I Fostered an Elephant, Max

I recently read a story that got me teary-eyed; one about abused and mistreated elephants in Thailand that have been rescued by a young woman who goes by the name Lek. She founded Elephant Nature Foundation, a non-profit organization that serves the needs of suffering elephants in Thailand. I first read about her in Wildlife Conservation magazine, the publication of the Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, NY Aquarium, et al.).

I spent a few hours looking around their website, and was shocked to learn how brutal people are to elephants in Thailand. I have always had a fascination with elephants, but never knew how vulnerable they really are in the wild and even after being pressed into service.

Max, the elephant I fosteredI decided I had to get involved and do something, so rather than just send a donation, I took advantage of their novel program to foster an elephant. Much more interesting than sending a check, and while they encourage visits to the park, I cannot get to Thailand in the near future. Thus, I fostered Max, an 11-foot tall elephants who was rescued by the park a few years ago. I am looking forward to getting updates about him over the next year, and feel that I am helping, even in a small way, something much greater than me.

If you have not donated anything during the holiday season yet, consider supporting the wonderful work at Elephant Nature Foundation; they even have a U.S. tax ID.

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4 thoughts on “I Fostered an Elephant, Max”

  1. Pingback: Silence and Voice » Elephant Nature Foundation Has RSS Feeds
  2. Pingback: Silence and Voice » I Fostered a Baby Elephant, Tong Jan

  3. I have just returned to the UK from Thailand. I spent a week as a volunteer at the Elephant Nature Park. I got teary eyed on a number of occasions throughout the course of the week on learning the stories and background of the elephants that have been rescued…Max being one of them. What Lek has and is achieving with the help of others is beyond inspiring. She is a remarkable lady. I intend to do whatever I can in the future to be part of the park in some way. I too have fostered two elephants….Hope and Jungle Boy. I had the great pleasure of hand feeding Hope ice lollies which I am told he loves….it was priceless to watch him enjoy them and then out of his mouth would pop the wooden stick from the ice cream. I will without doubt be returning in the future and plan to organise a fund raising event with some of the fellow volunteers that I worked with to help raise funds.

  4. I’m a Chinese girl.I like elepants very much.I read your article by chance.I only see elephants in zhe zoo,never see them in the wild.

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