2 More Rescued Elephants: Sa Cha and Mario!
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| Mario and his mother Sa Cha in Huay Pakoot |
Since GVI’s elephant forest reintroduction started in the
village of Huay Pakoot 2 years ago, volunteers, staff and elephant lovers
everywhere have been working hard to raise money through charitable donations
to bring more elephants back to the forest.
GVI sponsors 5 elephants directly through volunteer fees but with a
village of approximately 60 elephants in total, 5 elephants is only a small
chunk of the elephants still remaining in tourist camps around Chiang Mai and
northern Thailand. The community is
committed to bringing more elephants back to the forest but funding is required
to provide work and salaries for elephant owners and mahouts. Through online fundraising, volunteer
donations and the 2011 marathon in Chiang Mai the GVI team has raised thousands
of dollars towards this mission. And we
are proud to say that the number of rescued elephants is finally increasing!
In May 2012, the community of Huay Pakoot officially registered
as a community conservation group with the Mae Chaem district office. Through this registration they have committed
to working towards bringing elephants back to the forest and utilizing
community based tourist projects based around the reintroduced elephants to
further increase funding. Tourist
activities include home stays with traditional Karen families, learning about
culture and food and hiking in surrounding forests to see these elephants
foraging, wandering and just basically being elephants in a natural setting.
In August 2012, GVI signed a MOU (Memorandum of
Understanding) with the Huay Pakoot Community Conservation group, a document
which symbolizes their partnership moving forward to develop sustainable
tourism and bringing in more rescued elephants.
A copy of the MOU can be found here:
Beginning 15 September 2012, GVI has committed to an initial
6 months of funding towards the community conservation group, a total of
US$2,000. This funding should cover the
costs of keeping Sa Cha and her son Mario in the forest of Huay Pakoot as well
as provide extra funds to be used for any necessary medical treatment or other
costs the conservation group need to move things forward. We currently have funds to sponsor these
elephants for the first couple of years but still need more to bring in more
elephants!
Sa Cha is 36 years old.
She started working in the fields at the age of 15 years old. More recently she has been working in tourist
camps in and around Chiang Mai. Sa Cha
became pregnant with Mario in an elephant camp where he was born. Mario is 2 years 8 months and the mother and
son are back in Huay Pakoot enjoying daily foraging in the forests and enjoying
some time just being elephants without having to work!
To contribute funds to this effort follow these links to
Global Giving ($US donations) http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/elephant-rescue-thailand/
or Just Giving (GBP donations) http://www.justgiving.com/Thai-Elephants
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