13/12/2019
We spent the day at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, and can’t begin to explain what an incredible experience it’s been 🐘🐘
We feel so humbled to have had the chance to walk with the elephants through their home, make food for them and feed them, and listen to the awful stories about where and how these beautiful creatures were rescued, and how they were treated before their rescue.
It was so heartbreaking to learn that although elephant labour is banned in Thailand, it is still happening in many places, and once you own an elephant, he is your property to treat as you wish. The elephants here have been rescued from the circus, from riding camps, and from labour camps, and many of them have life long injuries from their past lives. To rescue these elephants, the sanctuary have to actually pay their owners to buy the elephant, even when old or injured. The government won’t support their cause because they see it as going against their culture and traditions, as the royal family still ride elephants.
We would absolutely recommend Elephant Nature Park as a place to not only learn about the elephants but to support the cause of giving these gentle giants a better life. There are so many elephant sanctuaries and parks in Chiang Mai, but even now you can see people riding the elephants in these parks - this is cruel and painful for the elephants. What we saw instead was just love shown to the elephants, and the care of all the people who are committed to looking after them 🐘
