Season’s Greetings
Dear friends and sponsors of Bring the Elephant Home,
With the end of an animated 2009 near, I would like to wish you an inspiring and loving 2010. In 2010 we will continue to plead for more respect for the Thai elephant and nature. Recently, Bring the Elephant Home has celebrated its fifth anniversary, and looking back on the past five years we are quite proud of what we have achieved. From a dream of rescuing two street elephants, to a starting organization with a few projects, to a truly flourishing organization with long term projects. Our methods have not really changed, and our passion certainly has not diminished. Bring the Elephant Home always tries to swing into action quickly and enthusiastically. This enthusiasm is catching; we now have an active network of people who regularly join us. A solid foundation to do more for the Thai elephant in the future.
2009 has been quite a moving year. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to the two large bulls of the Elephant Nature Park, Max and Boon Khum, who passed away shortly after each other. While everyone was still coming to terms with this loss, Faa Mai was born, and three months later Chang Yim. These two babies were born in freedom, and can spend their entire lives at the Elephant Nature Park. Never a grueling training or hauling tourists on their backs for these two. Our book The Great Elephant Escape has been published in Thailand with a well-visited book presentation, and is now available in most Thai bookstores and on Amazon. In the past year we have planted nearly fifty thousand trees, with the help of many volunteers. Our project at the elephant island has really taken shape this year. Homestay guests regularly stay at the two villages, the elephants Nok Noi and Sri Prae enjoy a free life at the island, and by now a lot of people are participating in the project. There seems to be a change in Thai politics as well. The governor of Bangkok has promised that Bangkok will be elephant free by July 2010. In general, the street elephants are now taken to an elephant village in Surin. The Elephant Nature Park is setting up an animal friendly project in Surin as well. Many parties involved is this project, but if all works out, hundreds of elephants from Surin will get a better life.
Our first projects for the first half of 2010 have been prepared. Bike for Elephants will take place in the first weekend of February. A two-day sponsor ride, through the mountains surrounding the Elephant Nature Park. If this event is successful, we might organize this every year. So please sponsor Bike for Elephants or join the event with your own bike team! If you have possibilities to promote the event, please let us know. We can provide posters and leaflets. Several large groups of Thai volunteers will help us the coming months, with the weeding, fertilizing, and tree planting preparations. In June the tree planting season will start: we will be planting in Salakpra (Kanchanaburi), at the elephant island (Buriram) and on the new land of the Elephant Nature Park.
We hope to bring a third elephant to the elephant island somewhere in 2010. And many other activities will undoubtedly cross our path. In any case, we will make this an exciting year! So, keep supporting and following us.
With kind regards,
Antoinette
PS Watch the video overview of some of our projects in 2009.
