Plant Walk with the Chief

Here at the GVI Thai Elephant Project we are not only conducting elephant behaviour research but also studying local plants. For our elephant foraging study our intern Lindsay is collecting plant samples and taking photos of all the plants we observe the elephants eating. Also, we are working on putting together information about medicinal plants in the area, which will then go in our medicinal plant demonstration garden.

Today, the Chief of Huay Pakoot, Pa Luang, went on a plant hike with Lindsay and Sam, who is working on the medicinal plant study, to help them learn more about specific plants. The amount of traditional plant knowledge that most village elders know is incredible; they know what is edible, what the elephants eat, and what can be used for medicine. The Chief, who is a village elder, was able to identify lots of plants for Lindsay, and told Sam about a variety of medicinal plants. We hope to continue to tap into his wealth of traditional plant knowledge and also we thank him for all his help.

Plant Walk with the Chief