- While in Laos, filming an episode of
Angry Planet, we spent a night at the Elephant Conservation Center
to learn more about the work they do.
The Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) focuses on providing Lao
Elephant cows with a safe environment to give birth and raise
their calves. At the same time the Elephant Center is supplying
an income for their owners through soft responsible tourism with
the protected Elephants.
The Elephant Conservation Center also contains a specialized
elephant hospital and laboratory, capable of detailed blood analysis
and the provision of full-time care for two injured elephants
at the same time. Numbers of Elephants in Laos, the former “Kingdom
of One Million Elephants,” are steadily decreasing. Many
elephants disappear through natural death or by export activities
and dangerous work. Therefore, the need for a coordinated elephant
breeding program in Laos has long been recognized by Asian elephant
experts. The Elephant Conservation Center differentiates itself
from other Lao elephant camps by being a haven for elephant reproduction,
lactation, recovery and disease diagnosis.
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