About the Karen Hill Tribe & Ethical Elephant Experience
Join us for the experience of a lifetime living in a Karen Hill tribe village whilst supporting an ethical elephant programme. Your support is key to our ability to keep elephants living as they deserve.
These elephants have retired from harsh working environments. They are now free to forage and socialise how they wish, without force or fear. Here at our project, the elephants’ welfare is the priority, so we do not allow large noisy groups of people, we respectfully observe these elephants in their natural habitat, as this is the only way for it to be ethical.
Volunteer programme:
- Volunteers hike into the forest daily to observe the elephants in their natural habitat.
- You will learn all about and how to record social and foraging behaviours, so we can learn about the individual elephants and the progress they are making being back in the forest.
- During the day, elephants are free to roam, with their mahouts nearby to prevent conflicts with villagers or farms. The elephants are not forced to interact with visitors, but they are accustomed to human interaction, so they often come close to check if anyone has any food and then continue foraging.
- Volunteers can help the locals with farming projects and teach English to the wonderful children at the school.
- Volunteers can learn to weave the traditional Karen cloth, bamboo crafts, Karen cooking classes,
- Or work on the germination project and help with plant identification
- Opportunities also to learn the local language, spoken only by the Karen people
- Help with tree planting, or planting supplemental food for our elephants for the dry season.
- Football matches with the locals or visits to the waterfalls are also options.
- Volunteers can also help the veterinary staff with deworming & vaccinations for the village animals, and who often have to treat the community’s livestock & pets, along with all the village strays for illnesses.
- Future plans to build a clinic to treat the animal and elephants more safely where we can offer a more focused veterinary programme.
This is an incredible, life-changing experience for everyone who comes to share our passion for elephants.
Example of a weekly schedule:
Sunday: Transfer from Chiang Mai, and travel 2.5 hours out to the village, meet your friendly host family & fellow volunteers
Monday – Friday:
Mornings are spent hiking out to observe the elephants in the forest
Afternoons there will be varied activities planned:
– teaching at the school
– learning the local language
– cooking classes
– work on our germination project
– tree planting
– building projects like working on our veterinary clinic
– help the veterinary staff care for the pets, strays and livestock
– football matches with the locals
– visit waterfalls
– hanging out with fellow volunteers in the volunteer house
Saturday: Option to visit a waterfall and eating lunch there, those leaving go back to the city after lunch.
