DIARY AND NEWS UPDATED FROM THE ELEPHANT SANCTUARY

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DIARY AND NEWS UPDATES FROM THE ELEPHANT SANCTUARY	THAILAND
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The on-going stories from the Elephant Project in Surin, Thailand. Return to "Care for Elephants" Project Page		.
NEWS FROM THE ELEPHANT PROJECT! - Surin, Feb 2012
From Eleonor Content, Executive Director of the Abraham Foundation based in New York (USA) working with Surin Project. Hi Andrew, I hope all is well! In Surin all is well. Remember that you guys (Travellers Worldwide) sponsored a day for the male elephant program? It is going really well and the males are enjoying it tremendously. As of last week, we commenced a similar project with 5 retired (over 50 years old) females. They spend 3 hours in the enclosure every morning. They are enjoying it tremendously, as they were chained up basically 24 hours a day before. I thought you guy would like to know this because, as I have said before, had it not been for you guys, the enclosure could not have been built. We are also hoping to commence 2 more projects this year (2012); one aimed at helping a group of young males and another one aimed at helping a group of elephants with severe behavioral problems. Anyways, I hope it is not too cold in the UK, here we are having a very mild January.. All the best and speak soon! Eleonor Content
NEWS FROM THE ELEPHANT PROJECT! - Surin, April 2011
From Alex, Project Manager in Surin Hi everyone, I just wanted to update you on our plans and objectives for expanding the Project. First of all, I would like you to know that Travellers has been the sole reason that this project is still able to stay afloat. We have taken on a huge task on this project to improve the lives of even only 10 elephants and their mahouts, and volunteers are the only source of funding for this project. By Travellers sending us volunteers, the project can continue to grow food for the elephants and (very slowly) change the husbandry methods here, and, hopefully, with time we'll create an altogether better environment for captive elephants. Our plans for the future are simple - we want to 'adopt' and thus help more elephants, and we want to be able to run the program completely sustainably from a financial point of view. Travellers is currently instrumental in making this happen. Any number of volunteers is helpful and beneficial, and even during the times when we've had 12 volunteers here at the same time, these weeks have been extremely productive. Depending on the type of work we are doing, we split the group into two, each with a member of staff and mahouts, and we work on two projects simultaneously. The groups are split according to who wants to do what. During the walks with the elephants and the feeding at the river, the group is complete and has always been very well bonded. As we now have 10 elephants on the project (and another one joining the project next week), each volunteer gets to feed their own elephant. Meal times are always very animated and cheerful and have a lively evening social time with games being played and long discussions about elephants! (as well as other subjects). The project work we are currently engaging in, in addition to caring for the elephants, bathing them and walking them in the forest, is the following: We have over 2,000 Bamboo plants that we need to water twice a week. We are currently growing 2 acres of land by the river which needs watering and weeding (we grow fully organic grass - no weed killers). We are building an enclosure for the elephants and still need to place 100 poles and lay the wires. We have built a nursery in which we are planting local tree species that are edible for elephants and which we will plant in the monsoon (June to Oct). We have commissioned the locals to grow another 3,000 bamboos which we hope to enlist the volunteers' help in planting in the monsoon. We have instigated a large cleaning system, which means that all areas where the project works in need to be clear of elephant dung and food stuff every morning. We need to cut sugarcane at least once a day to feed to the elephants. We are constantly trying to improve the conditions in the center and there is a never-ending list of things to be done in the area --- thank goodness for our volunteers! They are wonderful towards the elephants and they make a huge difference. Best regards Alex Return to "Care for Elephants" Project Page	Got any questions? Please email us: info@travellersworldwide.com Want more information on this project? Please EMAIL: info@travellersworldwide.com

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