WORK IN PARTNERSHIP

ELEPHANTS: BORN TO BE WILD

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Laos, once known as "Lan Xang," or the “Land of a Million Elephants,” has, over a short period of time, seen its elephant population plummet to dangerously low levels. Current estimates indicate that fewer than 800 (wild and captive) now live in the country.  

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LEI believes every elephant that can live in the wild should live wild. It is their birthright and best suits their fundamental nature. Our work on wild elephants will focus on making this a reality  -- via initiative oversight or ensuring financial and staff support to an organization or coalition of experts who are working actively in this area. One of the ways in which we will realize this is through the concession, and oversight and management rights to 2000 hectares of land near MuangLa, Oudomxay Province, that was granted to Mandalao Elephant Conservation in August of 2024. 

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Called “Better Futures for Laos' Elephants” (BFLE), the endeavor will focus on:

1) Increasing the population and genetic diversity of wild elephants living in the area, while ensuring that human-elephant conflict and illegal wildlife trade are reduced

2) Working with community members and hill tribes to manage, preserve and protect elephants and their habitats; and

3) offering eco-tourism, academic and volunteer opportunities to support sustainable program funding and economic growth for the villagers and region.

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LEI will work with funders and international organizations to provide education programs to educate the public and grants in support of Mandalao Elephant Conservation's work re-wilding elephants and addressing human-elephant conflict.​

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