With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in sight due to the creation of effective vaccines, Thailand could soon be opening back up to foreign tourism. This is good news, particularly to the tourism industry that suffered severely during the lockdowns. But the industry that suffered the most was Thailand’s elephant nature parks. They still need your help as they have all during the lockdowns of 2020.
The existence of elephant nature parks is owed to the public’s growing awareness of the need to provide for the care of the national symbol of Thailand. While tourists were happy to visit and support the parks, the pandemic made this impossible during the lockdowns.
Elephants Have to Be Fed
For most of 2020, the elephant nature parks of Thailand were closed to the public, along with almost every type of business. And while these parks are seen as compassionate havens of comfort for old and sick elephants to live comfortably, they are run as a business, although all the proceeds are poured back into providing for the elephants.
As elephants are living creatures, they had to be fed all through 2020, even though there were no tourists to help support their food bills. Many of the country’s elephant nature parks took on crippling debt to feed and provide medical care for their elephants.
An adult elephant eats an average of 150 kilos of fresh food every day. This food can consist of grasses, shoots, leaves, bark, vegetables and fruits. Many of the elephants in the parks are also older animals who have developed medical conditions that have to be cared for. All this costs money. With the pandemic shutting down the park’s primary source of revenue, the financial costs of providing for these elephants was the responsibility of the owners of the parks.
Visit an Elephant Nature Park Near You
Now that Thailand is encouraging domestic tourism to help the economy regain its equilibrium, it’s time to get out and support the elephant nature parks all over Thailand for the good of their workers and the elephants.
Many of the workers at the parks reported for work every day, even when there wasn’t money to pay them. They knew that without their assistance, the animals in their care would starve to death. They continued to work even though no one knew when the pandemic was likely to end.
Since there now is an end to the pandemic in sight, the best thing for residents of Thailand to do is visit an elephant nature park near their home city or take a holiday to a park.
We need to continue to support the conservation efforts of these parks and help repay them for their kindness and out-of-pocket expenses during the lockdowns. The elephant nature parks of Thailand have changed the world’s attitudes toward the cruelty and abuse of elephants. Let’s show them the same support for their efforts as they have demonstrated for the elephants.
