Save elephant sanctuary’s land from developers!

Hi, my name is Gillian and I’m fundraising for Samui Elephant Haven, Thailand who are urgently trying to raise funds to save their sanctuary’s land.

Samui Elephant Haven was founded in 2018 by Maew Suriya whose sole purpose was to provide a safe haven for rescued elephants to live out the rest of their lives free from abuse. Born and raised in Thailand he is all too aware of the pain and suffering that Asian elephants endure. He was determined to make a difference and educate people of their plight with the ultimate goal being to change the attitudes of tourists, to discourage them from supporting elephant trekking, circuses or any form of tourist attraction that continually contributes to the untold abuse of elephants and the forced removal of baby elephants from their mothers.

All of Maew’s hard work is now at risk as the landlord they lease the land from wants to sell to property developers, who will build luxury villas in place of the sanctuary. 3,000 square metres of the sanctuary’s land has already been sold with the developers having already begun work, even though the sanctuary’s lease does not come to an end until March 2023. This is causing great distress to the elephants as loud machinery begins to clear the area. An area that was once where the elephants slept and where the older elephants went for some quiet time if they were feeling anxious.

This has truly become a desperate situation for Maew and everyone at the sanctuary who are deeply concerned for the future of their elephants. New land is hard to come by and their worry is that their family of 14 elephants may need to be split up. The elephants here have been rescued from the logging, trekking and entertainment industry and after years of brutal abuse deserve to live out the rest of their lives together in a place of safety.

The only way to ensure that this happens is if the sanctuary can buy the remaining land for themselves but this is a huge cost that they cannot do alone. Maew is determined and is doing everything in his power to achieve this but desperately needs extra help. Please donate and share if you can. Every single penny is invaluable and goes directly to saving this beautiful elephant family’s land and most importantly, keeping them together in their home.

Thank you in advance for your support. The ele’s send trunkfuls of love.