Staff Bio - Kylie
Hi, my name’s Kylie and I joined GVI Thai
Elephant Project at the beginning of April in the staff role of Volunteer
Leader. My background is in ecology and sustainability and I’ve had a keen
interest in all things elephant for a long time now. Last year I completed a
research thesis for my Masters degree investigating if young elephants are
learning important survival skills from their mothers. For this I spent three
months living in a national park in Kenya and observing elephants every day. I
also spent a couple of months in Tanzania helping out with another research
project focused on human-elephant conflict.
I can say without a doubt that I came to
Huay Pakoot for the elephants. My previous experience is with wild African
elephants only, and the chance to work on a project all about improving the
lives of their captive Asian cousins was too good to be missed. I like working with
volunteers, meeting new people all the time, and think projects like this
should be where the captive elephant tourism industry is headed. It’s been a
beautiful opportunity to look at relationships and interactions between humans
and elephants, and also the individual relationships and group dynamics that
bond our five member elephant herd.
Although I came here for the elephants, the
village itself and the surrounding forests are more than enough to keep me
happy. It’s a unique opportunity to live in an actual traditional Karen hill
tribe village that hasn’t either been set up for tourists or strongly
influenced by tourism. The people in the village are lovely and so welcoming –
communication can be difficult but language isn’t always necessary to make
friends. The village is set amongst lush green rolling mountains, so aside from
seeing the elephants on hikes there is so much to enjoy about the sounds,
smells and insect life in the forests. The village animals also keep us well
entertained, whether it is the chickens, pigs, buffalo or our motley crew of
base hut dogs.
What I love most about being here is that
every day brings something new, exciting or interesting to see and learn.
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