DW Made for Minds – Thailand: The elephant rescuer of Chiang Mai

Elephant Nature Park has been recognised as the Wildlife Sanctuary of the Year at the Prestige Awards ceremony held at Hazlewood Castle, near Leeds, UK. The award celebrates excellence and dedication in our field

Lek Chailert started with a humble goal: rescue one abused bull. Now, she's the head of an international non-profit with a mission to end the mistreatment of elephants.

Elephant Nature Park is one of the best-known elephant conservation projects in Thailand. Set on the edge of a rainforest near Chiang Mai, in Thailand’s north, the sanctuary was founded by award-winning conservationist Lek Chailert in 1995. More than 75 elephants roam free here and each has a heart-breaking story: many have been saved from torturous camps that exploit elephants for tourism or logging purposes or other abusive situations.

Judges’ comments: Apart from all the usual elephant activities they also do rainforest restoration, have educational programmes, they set up Eleflix during the pandemic, they have 4 vets on site, they have their Elephant Food Bank, they have their Farm to Herd initiative, and they set up their Jumbo Express mobile clinic. A clear winner!

En marge de son déplacement à Bangkok pour le sommet de l’APEC, Emmanuel Macron a remis  les insignes de chevalier de la Légion d’honneur à Mme Saengduean Chailert.