It took weeks of research to choose an elephant sanctuary that aligned to what I believe to be truly ethical. Until I found Elephant Nature Park. Elephant Nature Park is home to 125 elephants that have been rescued from inhumane tourist attractions, and other horrid "jobs" since 1955. They provide them with a life as natural as possible at the sanctuary.
Elephants meet, play, eat, and form their own families, as they would in their natural habitat. Their philosophy is that at the sanctuary elephants get to be elephants again. Visitors observe the elephants as they simply go about their day, while learning about the work it takes to care for the elephants inside and outside of the sanctuary, the problems that elephants face in Thailand, and many other conservation related issues. The big takeaway from this day was that as much as is being done for elephants currently, the biggest change will come when tourists understand that elephant attractions where too much human interaction takes place, is not only harmful, but it also contributes to the continued abuse of elephants.
During our visit, we joined their very special program called Care for Elephants, where Elephant Nature Park pairs up with village and hill tribe families who own elephants. These elephants had "jobs" such as elephants riding, logging, street begging, etc. and as part of the program they are now going on walks with tourists through the jungle a they forage and eat veggies that are given to them by visitors. They stop at a body of water and if they want to bathe, they do. Only the handlers go in with them. Tourists do not bathe with the elephants. The elephants' owners/families receive compensation and the elephants no longer have to "work".
