By Kerri McCrea – Manager & Co-Founder

Happy New Year to all of our followers!! This last year, we have been faced with so many challenges, from our sudden closure, to having to furlough many of our staff, to welcoming home over 60 elephants who have had no choice but to return to our area, to constantly having to fundraise in order to not only support our 5 elephants and their mahouts and owners, but also helping to support the food supply for the 60+ elephants in our area, as well as our community.

On the up side, we are very proud to say that we have felt so blessed with the support that we have received to help us keep fighting and pushing forward, whether that’s from the general public or other organisations. We would like to take this moment to thank each and every one of you who have helped us in anyway over the last year, we really wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t for you! Because of you, our elephants lives have remained unaffected and they have still been spending their days roaming in the forests.

The new year has brought with it some new challenges for Thailand. Due to the strict closed boarders throughout the pandemic, Thailand remained relatively unaffected by the covid-19 virus. However, now due to some illegal entry into the country, the virus has begun to spread throughout different regions. There was one case relatively close to our site, in Mae Chaem town, about two hours drive away, but thankfully that case seemed to have been contained quite well. However our community’s concerns have increased again due to this relatively close call and we all are playing a waiting game to see what restrictions, if any, will come into place. Our main concern right now is hoping that we can still travel to collect grass for the elephants once our own supplies dry-up. The number of elephants in our area is also on the rise as more elephants are forced to make the journey home, as well as new elephants being born into the village.

With this all still in mind, we really do still need your support now more than ever. There are many ways to help us over this period:
– Donate to our on-going fundraiser: https://www.simplygiving.com/appeal/help-us-continue-our-work-kses
– Sponsor an elephant: https://kselephantsanctuary.com/our-elephants/
– Support our Etsy Shop to help the community and elephants: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KindredSpiritEles
– Book on for a future stay: https://kselephantsanctuary.com/visit/
– Book on for a future long stay or volunteer stay: https://kselephantsanctuary.com/volunteer/

Thank you to everyone and we hope to welcome you all again soon!