Save and Rescue an Asian Elephant Today

Dear Supporters, 

Throughout the year we buy additional food for our elephants to assist with health checks and also as a little treat for them every couple of weeks! We currently buy our produce from markets in Chiang Mai, but we would like to become as self-sufficient as possible and grow our own banana trees to feed the elephants.

We are fortunate enough that our base is surrounded by unused land, so volunteers, interns and staff have spent the last few months clearing the overgrown weed filled area. After the area was cleared, they dug 16 deep holes for the young banana trees – not an easy feat in the middle of the dry season! With the help of villagers, we were able to source banana trees surrounding the village, which the interns then had to dig out, cut the top and replant to help with regrowth. 

The interns are now watering the banana trees daily to ensure they have enough water as the ground is very dry at this time of the year.

It is our hope that the village will be able to become self-sufficient with regards to being able to supply their elephants with a variety of foods. With the intern project, we hope to inspire the villagers to also grow other crops that they’d also be able to supply to the elephants, such as pumpkins or elephant grass. This would also help to achieve two of our project aims; ‘to increase and promote ethical elephant tourism and ‘to create a viable self-sustaining eco-tourism programme for the village.’

As we continue to return elephants to the forest we need to ensure there is enough food for them throughout all of the seasons and having villagers grow alternative crops will help us guarantee that they’ll have variety and plenty of foods. Having the villagers grow these crops will give them an alternative income than just growing rice and corn.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped to clear the area, dug the holes and replanted the trees!

With Gratitude, 
GVI Thailand