The Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) in Sayaboury, Laos, has become a haven for logging elephant mahouts. It offers veterinary care among many other needed services to mahouts and their elephants. Laos is a major contributor to the logging industry, however, it has been severely impacted by illegal logging over the past century. Now that so much old growth forest has been decimated, it’s not just the trees that have been impacted, but the humans and elephants as well. With the population of Asian elephants in their range countries declining, the ECC in Laos is a beacon of hope in sustaining their numbers and allowing mahouts to remain culturally relevant. The following video highlights the importance of the ECC to elephants in Laos.
Asian Elephant Support (AES) in conjunction with ElefantAsia has been fortunate to work with and contribute toward the success of the ECC. In the past, AES has been able to fund the purchase of dart guns, medicine for their mobile vet unit, a portable scale, and more recently provide for the education and salary of their employee Kan.