For centuries elephants have played a very important role in Asian cultures, and have historically been taken from the wild and trained for everything from warfare and heavy haulage to ceremonial processions.
With more than 15,000 still in captivity and an ongoing trade in live elephants in many areas - with many still illegally captured from the wild - conservationists can ill afford to ignore this issue. Improving the welfare conditions of captive elephants is important, and while doing so may have little immediate impact on the conservation of their wild relatives, there are opportunities to link the two, while working to regulate the keeping of elephants in captivity could prevent more being captured from the wild.
Elephant Family currently supports two elephant welfare projects: the upkeep of a female elephant and her calf in Thailand in partnership with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation; and the Veterinary Society for Sumatran Wildlife Conservation’s team of vets to provide ongoing elephant care, wound treatment, food supplements and regular health checks across six of their elephant camps.
