Thailand: Elephants

Update from our Elephant conservation volunteer holiday Thailand

The expedition has got off to a cracking start. The team assembled in Chiang Mai and travelled to base camp, all present and correct and on time: always a relief at the beginning of an expedition.

Day 1 was pretty full-on, simply with settling in, familiarisation with the base camp and the village, safety briefing and a lecture about the elephants and the work of Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary. We even managed to squeeze in some initial training in the research methodologies we use on this expedition.

Most of the team managed to get some good sleep that first night, despite the unfamiliar nocturnal noises of dogs and geckos and the bustle of the village waking at dawn. We set off after breakfast to find the elephants. This involves a good hour’s walk over the bouncy suspension bridge, through the village, along the river bank, past rice paddies and corn fields and up towards the forest. There were plenty of insects, lizards and plants to distract us en route until finally we spotted the elephants half-hidden in a grassy field. It was a special moment to see five Asian elephants free-roaming and calmly foraging in front of us. The sixth elephant was the calf, ‘Junior’ who would have been somewhere near his mother or aunty – they tend to stick together as a trio – but hidden from our view in the tall grass.

We followed the herd as they wandered into the forest and at the first opportunity we paused and watched them from a safe distance so that scientist Laura could give us training in the field, putting into practice what we had learnt in the classroom the day before. It was very helpful for us to get a feel for how to carry out the research tasks when faced with the realities of observing elephants wandering around the forest, half hidden by the trees (or each other) for much of the time. It was a good reality check: conservation research is rarely neat, tidy and simple to do. And of course, it was an utter thrill to be up close with semi-wild elephants showing their fascinating natural elephant behaviour.

We returned to base for lunch, tired, hot, sweaty, but happy, ready for lunch and some more classroom training. Tomorrow we will return to the elephants and begin the research tasks for real.

Update from our Thailand expedition working as an elephant conservation volunteer