Myanmar Logging Elephants
Redeploying Myanmar elephants
Myanmar, Ethical Elephant Tourism. Green Hills Valley Elephant Camp is the best, most ethical, tourist elephant camp that our crew visited while in Myanmar last month. Please support ethical businesses. Please don't ride the elephants (unless you're the mahout and riding bareback). Our Wildlife Biologist, Marija Minić has nailed it once again!
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There are 2500 newly unemployed logging elephants in Burma - unemployed because of new anti-logging laws. What to do with them all? Human/elephant conflict is also growing. Burma is “the land of the elephants’ and while tourism has opened up, there is little to no elephant tourism options. Although the Rohingya crisis and genocide is gut wrenching, the elephants still need help and thus, we will continue our work. We are collaborating with local conservationists, an investor and the Vihara Collective to re-deploy the timber elephants on forest patrols. Tourists will walk alongside the elephants and pay for the privilege. The mahouts would be bareback riding, with radios, perhaps a ranger or security official would join. Tourist fees would pay their salaries and elephant care expenses.