Charity

The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation is a small Thai registered charity set up in 2005 to help elephants that could not help themselves, a task it initially achieved by rescuing street begging elephants and their handlers (mahouts) and bringing them to live on the 400 acre forest and grassland surrounding Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort in Far North Thailand.

This land is still home to 20 elephants but since 2005 the Foundation has adapted to changing circumstances and adopted three separate pillars: Captive Elephant Welfare, Wild Elephant Protection and Research and Education.

Working with the elephants on site and through well chosen partners the Foundation has been a key driver in the improvement of welfare for all captive elephants; hosting and supporting well attended free courses, seminars and workshops for elephant camp managers and mahouts in topics such as Target Training Positive Reinforcement, Environmental Enrichment & Human Elephant Learning Programme’s Elephant Friendly training techniques. Indeed the Target Training Positive Reinforcement Workshop programme is already into its twelfth year and has reached hundreds of managers and mahouts responsible for thousands of elephants across eight countries.

The Foundation has three ongoing Wild Elephant Conservation projects. The #SurvivingTogether project on the outskirts of Khao Yai National Park, Thailand which supports Community Conservation Clubs to gently intercept wild elephants when they leave the forest and through special techniques push them back before they can damage farmers’ crops. The foundation also provided infrastructure such as watch towers to more safely observe the elephants. The second project works with Hunter College, New York University and supports their Comparative Cognition for Conservation Laboratory in their study of elephant behaviour both inside and outside another Thai National Park in efforts to promote Human Elephant Coexistence. Perhaps most significant is funding the total protection of an 18,000ha wildlife corridor between Botum Sakor & Southern Cardamom National Parks in Cambodia, a glimpse at the neighbouring concessions proves this natural standing rainforest, home to all manner of endangered species and a migration route for elephants, would not be standing without the Rangers’ presence.

Recognising the Thailand’s 4,000 year tradition of keeping and handling captive elephants will not modernise without the active agreement and input of the people who are heirs to that tradition the Foundation has provided the main home villages of these tradition keepers, surrounding Ban Ta Klang in Surin Province, with two full time English teachers who are working hard to broaden the horizons of future mahouts and decision makers. Not only did the project take one of the local village schools from dead last to top one hundred in the province for average English score local students have entered provincial English competitions, unthinkable a decade ago.

During COVID lockdowns the income to feed Thailand’s 3,800 captive elephants dried up totally leaving many elephants and mahouts to fend for themselves. Despite likewise totally losing their traditional source of donations the Foundation managed to expand their work to take in and care for five ‘COVID Refugee’ elephants whose supporting camps went bankrupt. They also, with partners, subsidised 13 vets and vet nurses around the country to assist the Government in providing free, much needed, veterinary care to any elephant through 18 months of travel restrictions.

To help people locked down around the world when COVID struck the Foundation expanded their #VirtualFieldtrip programme to give free online educational elephant experiences, tailored to curriculum, to any school in Thai or English language. Even as the world wakes up they continue provide livestreams for people around the globe via their Facebook (GTAEF Helping Elephants) & Instagram (@GTAEF_Thailand) channels. The weekly Elephant Professional Lectures from experts on many elephant or conservation related topics as well Elephant Educational livestreams from their own veterinary and research teams from this period had over 11,000 views in 2021 alone and will remain a reference library for people studying elephants well into the future.

Post lockdowns the Foundation has been working to ensure their projects return to their pre-COVID footing. Adding an additional focus on meeting & sharing with various stakeholders with the intention to make the tourism recovery more sustainable for Thailand’s elephants providing improved welfare across the board.

For more information please visit us:
Official Site: helpingelephants.org 
Facebook: GTAEF.helpingelephants 
Instagram: gtaef_thailand