Internship

Kindred spirits are two people who are connected and bonded together on a higher level of consciousness. This connection is similar to the very special bond that can happen between a mahout and elephant who care for each other deeply. Although there are many people who take care of elephants just to earn an living and have no interest in connecting with them, our mahouts have grown up with their elephants, they know each other inside out and they therefore possess this now very rare connection. Despite the fact that they are animal and human, they are also kindred spirits.

No. In many instances when an elephant is sold, the previous owner will then use this money to replace the sold elephant by buying one that has been poached from the wild (these are sold at a much cheaper rate). We at Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary do not wish to encourage this. Our elephants belong to families within our local Karen communities, they have been in their families for many generations and we pay them a monthly salary to compensate the elephants. This close connection enables us to secure our elephants freedom without contributing to illegal trade.

Elephant tourism in Thailand is very a very complex situation. The reality of it is, due to the huge deforestation, without tourism the elephants would have nowhere to go. Our elephants are very lucky to have the forest in our sanctuary to roam, but this is not possible for every elephant. This is why we work with our community and other organizations to bring better welfare and future for all captive elephants through science.