This year has been busy for EAI - thanks to your ongoing support, elephants in both Thailand and Nepal are now living chain free.
EAI February eNews


EAI's founder Carol Buckley has been busy in the New Year! Here are a few highlights of Elephant Aid International's ongoing work in Nepal.
Tiger Tops: Chain Free, Yes; Elephant Back Safaris, No!

At a recent press conference in Kathmandu, Tiger Tops, a leader in conservation efforts in Chitwan, Nepal, announced their intention to build chain-free corrals for all 16 of their elephants, and to do away with the elephant back safaris they've been offering for decades.
Instead, they will offer visitors a unique educational experience: the chance to accompany elephants during their daily outings and jungle explorations. The elephants will have a more natural lifestyle while visitors will be able to learn by observing this highly intelligent, hypersensitive, extraordinarily social and evolved wild animal.
Tiger Tops has enlisted EAI Founder and President Carol Buckley to guide them in transforming their elephant program. Carol has designed the chain-free corrals, and will assist the mahouts during the transition, as well as teaching them progressive foot care.
Chain Free Means Pain Free

Stepping out of chains for the last time has a profound impact on an elephant's life. An older elephant named Oma Kali experienced chain-free life for the first time last year but, sadly, died recently. Carol writes about her loss:
In April of 2015, Oma Kali, a crippled senior elephant, was given the greatest gift: she was released from chains and given a 4-acre chain-free corral. Joined by 62-year-old Sundar Mala, the two became instant friends. What a joy to see two wild-caught elephants, who had spent decades living alone in chains, in service to man, finally experiencing relative freedom and family.
But Oma Kali died only weeks ago. Her life force peacefully slipped away in the company of Sundar Mala, the only real friend she had ever known.
Sundar Mala grieved the loss of her dear friend for days, not eating or drinking. Their time together was so short but, without a doubt, Oma Kali left this earth knowing she was loved. And Sundar Mala will never forget her dear, dear friend, Oma Kali.

The Future

Oma Kali had only a short time in which to live chain free, but, by collaborating with our partners in Nepal to embrace a new way of thinking, the next generation of elephants will never have to know life on a chain.
 
Two babies were born this January in Nepal's Chitwan National Park. Though born in captivity and destined to be working elephants as part of the park's anti-poaching efforts, these elephants will live their lives chain free.  

Back to the Drawing Board

Solar powered chain-free corrals in Nepal are as much art as sci ence. The sustainability of the corrals depends on EAI innovating new solutions to challenges as they present themselves. Carol describes the latest developments:
It is so disappointing that only a couple of weeks ago this baby's mother was chain-free and had been for nearly a year.
 
But the resident wild bull destroyed the corral  fencing---in one of 15 locations---when he came into musth this year. Chain-free corrals in other locations had held him at bay for 3 years, but he claimed the Khorsor hattisar (elephant stable) as "his" since there are 15 cycling females in residence. His drive to breed overrode hi s fear of the consequences of touching the power fencing.
 
Other chain-free corral locations have not been disturbed by wild elephants and continue to provide elephants with a chain-free environment. For the Khorsor hattisar, we are currently developing an alternative way to contain the females chain-free while allowing the wild bull access.

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