The Elephant Story

A Future for Elephants in Black Ivory Coffee Inventory Control?

Jul 29, 2019 | 0 comments

Our friend and elephant behavioral advisor, Dr. Joshua Plotnik -- Faculty of Department of Psychology of Hunter College, New York and President and Executive Director of Think Elephants International -- recently published the results of his studies to demonstrate that elephants have the ability to count. Incidentally, Josh, as an elephant psychologist and his wife, Sherry, represent the complete elephant wellness couple in that Sherry is an elephant veterinarian featured in an elephant inoculation in the film, POLO, For The Love of Elephants referenced below. Josh is shown here in one of his countless elephant encounters. Dr. Plotnik has a...

CITES Compliance Comes to Coup Ville

Jan 23, 2017 | 0 comments

Now where to begin with the title? "CITES" is the Convention on International Resources and Environment which is a great thing. Conservationists believe that the issuance of computer chips to provide ID and DNA verification will eliminate the incentives for people to capture baby elephants in the wild while killing the more difficult family members so that baby elephants can then be raised and passed off for domestic elephants. In the old days, experts would merely offer sugar cane to distinguish the origin of baby elephants. The babies from the wild would not eat the sugar cane because they...

Lauren De Terra's Report of Her Term as an English Teacher in Moo Ban Chang, Ban Ta Klang, Thailand

May 23, 2016 | 0 comments

Seven months into my time in Thailand I find myself walking a gravel road. I look to my right and can see Burma and Laos. A young elephant extends her trunk, demanding more sunflower seeds. We continue to the Ruak River where I watch two elephants bathe, flapping their ears in happiness and spraying water on their backs to fight the April heat. I'm a volunteer at the elephant camp at Anantara Resort and Spa, located in the very north of Thailand. This past month I've met travelers from all over the world and helped them get up close and...

Doug Bahr in the GTAEF Elephant Sanctuary

Mar 09, 2016 | 0 comments

On November 24, 2014, we published a blog about The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, the elephant sanctuary located in the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar come together, and their wonderful intern program to put people to work for room and board and offer them the opportunity to be with elephants. One day in Comfort, Texas, a young man by the name of Doug Bahr was in town to attend a wedding and happened to see the author on top of a stand behind The Elephant Story with a long mallet hitting polo balls in an attempt to...

Elephants and Economics

Feb 15, 2016 | 0 comments

This commentary was prompted by a recent article in the Nikkei Asian Review commenting on the ASEAN Economic Community Reality, which created a question in my mind as to the future of elephants in many of these countries in light of their economic development. First of all, the author would like to acknowledge Ele Aid for their vast contribution to an understanding of the elephant population and potential for their survival in Southeast Asia. Below is a ranking of certain ASEAN countries by their GDP and GDP per capita. There are several observations relative to the wealth of these countries...