Elephant Protection Centres

History tells us that Laos was once the land of a million elephants.
Today, only around 700 remain, of which roughly 300 live in the wild.

To protect them (and also to run a fairly lucrative business), numerous so-called “elephant protection” centres have sprung up in Laos, as in Thailand. Unfortunately, not all of them are reputable, and for most, “protection” is little more than a name.

We place the utmost importance on the welfare of elephants at these centres, and we only recommend those we have personally vetted, on the basis that they genuinely respect the animals and work towards their protection and breeding. To date, only Mekong Elephant Park in Pakbeng and Mandalao Elephant Conservation near Luang Prabang have met our criteria. This does not mean others do not exist, but we do not know them personally and therefore prefer not to promote them.

The first criterion is simple: no riding on the elephants' backs.
Recent studies have shown that this activity, while entertaining and profitable, is harmful to the animals' health, particularly their spines (a mahout traditionally sits not on the elephant's back but on its neck, which is much stronger). For a long time, we offered this activity. But it is no longer possible to continue down this path with full knowledge of the facts. In 2018, we therefore decided to stop all such activities, whether in Laos, Thailand, India for tiger safaris, or even in Africa.

You can find more information, images and films on our Blog page dedicated to Elephant Protection Centres in Laos — click HERE.