- A Year in Review -

2024 Asian elephant support annual Report

As many parts of Asia continue to rebuild their tourism trade which suffered a catastrophic blow during
the Covid pandemic, we at Asian Elephant Support were poised and ready to assist in whatever ways we
possibly could.

We continue to support two mobile veterinary clinics, one in THAILAND and one in SUMATRA. If you
follow our newsletters you know the important work they do, both in pre-emptive medical care as well
as care when injury or illness happens. And every visit also educates the mahouts (elephant caregivers)
and owners alike on medical care for their elephants. We happily foresee these partnerships continuing
into the future.

Mobile veterinary clinics in both Thailand and Sumatra provide a variety of services for local elephants.
 

Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) continues to be a problem in most all range countries where shrinking
habitats, as well as habitat deterioration due to climate change, keeps bringing people and elephants
into the same areas with, too often, fatal results to both. We are delighted to work with programs that
focus on Human-Elephant Co-existence (HECx). In INDIA we are funding a program for Community
based solar fencing to mitigate conflict and promote co-existence. An earlier project completed in 2021
has successfully prevented human and elephant deaths since its completion.
 
Education is also a meaningful way to help those who must share the same lands with wild elephants. In
INDIA, Street Plays bring all ages and backgrounds to both the performance and message of living both
in peace and successfully with elephants. While skeptical of this process initially, a mentor with vast
experience in the elephant scene in India promised a good result, and follow up interviews have proven
this so.

(Left) Installation of solar powered fencing in one of several communities in India
(Right) Participants from the school programs designed to compliment street theatre education programs

Education is meaningful in so many formats. While in-person workshops and education sessions are
very valuable, they also are expensive in resources and time. In order to keep education continuing,
since most all are familiar with and able to now use zoom for gatherings, we have funded a program of
continued training for field veterinarians in wildlife disease investigation. This is consisting of every-
other-month webinars, 2 hours each, for a year. Participation has been enthusiastic and keeps the door
open for learning between in-person workshops.
 
In THAILAND, we did fund an in-person event, the second southern mahout workshop. The first one in
2022 was very successful, and as the date approached for the second workshop, requests to attend
confirmed the workshop’s value and a second enthusiastic to learn group of mahouts were assembled.

The participants and instructors at the 2nd Southern Thailand Mahout Workshop

AES is represented on the IUCN (AeSG) Conservation Committee and helped fund the mapping of
elephant distribution in Peninsular Malaysia. All Asian range countries are going through this process to
give updated estimations, as best as possible, of the Asian elephant populations in total and by country.
This is an important step toward international conservation efforts.
 
We also helped the Wildlife Ambulance in SUMATRA with the purchase of two portable scales and in
MYANMAR, needed medical supplies not available there.

One of the scales in use in Sumatra
 

And, of course, working in elephant range countries means your field partners will occasionally end up
with a wild calf that needs help. While every effort is first made to get the calf back to its mother,
sometimes that is not possible or the calf is known to be the orphan of a deceased female. Either way,
quick responses to emergencies is one of our unique abilities. Being a small Board who funds
throughout the year, we can get funds moving within 48 hours, maybe less, when time is of the essence.
And we will help with continued support of that calf as long as needed. Again, if reading our
newsletters, you will know MYANMAR’s little Mocha is now into her second year and thriving quite well.

Rescued calf, Mocha, thrives in Myanmar with the help of our partners

The UNITED STATES FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE has provided funds over the years for larger projects that
satisfy their requirements for endangered species research and support. While we had no working
project with USFWS in 2024, we do hope to partner with them in the future.

Next time you’re at the U.S. Post Office be sure to pick up a sheet, or two, of Tiger Stamps! Through the purchase of these Saving Vanishing Species stamps, Americans have raised nearly $7.5-million, supporting 157 projects in 37 countries to date and contributing directly to the conservation of some of the most endangered species on Earth, including Asian elephants.

- Looking Forward to the New Year -

 
The unique ability of Asian Elephant Support to act quickly with emergency funding allowed us to
continue helping those we work with as efficiently as possible. While our income remains lower than
we would like, being a totally voluntary nonprofit affords us the ability to put each dollar donated
towards critically needed assistance in range countries.
 
It is the support of our donors – YOU – who make it possible for us to be there, when needed, during the
last year. Both our repeating donors and our new supporters have our most sincere appreciation and
we hope you will be with us in 2025!

 
Please tell your friends about us! There is still a lot to be done!
PleaseDONATEtoday and help us be prepared for the challenges of 2025!