National Geographic Creativeのインスタグラム(natgeointhefield) - 9月27日 16時46分

Photo by @amandamustard / At Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand, founder Sangduen ‘Lek’ Chailert is often called the ‘elephant whisperer’. She’s devoted her life to the welfare of Thailand’s captive elephants, rescuing many and giving them the space to live safely and freely under the care of her mahouts. Elephant Nature Park is a place for tourists to learn more about elephants without performances, riding, or other unnatural activities to generate income. While this model is the gold standard, it’s financially unrealistic for many smaller camps across Thailand to transition to such a donation-focused approach when there is still significant demand from many tourists to ride elephants and see circus-style performances. Many camps have expressed that they would be happy to transition, but if and when the demand dictates. In the face of this complex problem, Lek began a movement to change the culture of elephant tourism in Thailand, providing education both to tourists as well as establishing an alliance of camp owners to learn from her experience and begin shifting their own business models towards a more sustainable approach.
Now, due to the collapse of tourism amidst the pandemic, many elephant camps have lost almost their entire source of income. There is now a rare window of opportunity for camps - that can afford it - to change their model if they so choose. Elephant Nature Park has been offering support and consultation to camps making this decision, and has also been providing funding to those who are struggling to keep their elephants fed during these unprecedented times.

1️⃣ – Portrait of Lek Chailert at Elephant Nature Park
2️⃣ – A small herd of elephants walk up a river each morning to a large, contained area where they can safely graze.
3️⃣ – The ‘Skywalk’ area where tourists can observe the elephant’s natural behavior.

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