Located a few kilometres South of Ratanakiri’s capital, AIRAVATA is a place where indigenous mahouts treat elephants in the best possible way as they enjoy their work. There, travellers can meet the gentle giants in optimum natural conditions. The AIRAVATA Foundation (named from the tri-headed elephant, mount of God Indra in the Hindu mythology) is radically different from most elephant conservati
on associations who completely discourage any interaction with the animals. If the well-being and living conditions of our elephants are the centre of AIRAVATA’s preoccupations, our approach of conservation is also a cultural one! As a matter of fact, Cambodia owes a lot to the elephant, which has been accompanying the kingdom all along its history. We mean to perpetuate those traditions as they are constituent to the country’s soul, all the more that the wild elephant population is threatened each day a little bit more by deforestation and poaching. We hence concentrate on the surviving domestic population and keep offering, among other eco-tourist activities, the traditional elephant rides, but carefully supervised and in the elephant’s natural habitat, the forest. Our last action was the rescue and rehabilitation of the famous Bak Maï, Mondolkiri’s « killer elephant ». The other sanctuaries didn’t want him and he was condemned to death by starving for having killed a man. Yet, since day one he arrived in our care, Bak Maï integrated very well with his fellow creatures and his mahouts appreciate him greatly! In a residual forest of a few hundred hectares, small groups of travellers can now enjoy the unique experience of interacting with the last domesticated Cambodian elephants ! Volontary work will soon be organized for people willing to help in various fields : mahout and staff training, forest protection, organizing fire breaks and tree nurseries to help replant deforested areas…
AIRAVATA wishes to demonstrate that an elephant camp can be managed without having to exploit or abuse the animals. The future of the Khmer domesticated elephant is at stake! The main idea of Airavata is to provide elephants with the right environment for them. An elephant needs space, company and lots of varied foods. An elephant can’t be confined for too long, it needs exercise but also a great variety of plants and roots to sustain all his nutritional needs. The Cambodian forest offers all that and elephants are perfectly capable to recognize plants that are necessary to prevent deficiencies or illnesses that can affect them according to their age or their state of health. The extinction of elephants in Ratanakiri would also lead to the disappearance of all the knowledge passed on from generation to generation by families of mahouts. From time immemorial, this knowledge has been passed on from generation to generation and its disappearance would have been a cultural loss that we were not ready to let happen.
