Adopt an Elephant

Southern Thailand Elephant Foundation (STEF): Providing Thailand’s elephants with much needed care

About STEF

The Southern Thailand Elephant Foundation (STEF) is a charity dedicated to promoting elephant health and welfare in Southern Thailand. Our mission is twofold:

  1. Provide Free Veterinary Care: We ensure that elephants in Southern Thailand can live without pain and suffering. Our specialist vet team operates from our elephant hospital near Khok Kloi in Phang Nga Province. This facility allows us to deliver prompt emergency treatment to elephants, ensuring their well-being. We also run a mobile vet clinic which allows our vets to reach elephants in remote parts of Southern Thailand who are unable to get to the hospital.
  2. Protect Their Future: Our focus extends beyond short-term care for individual elephants. We hope to extend our programme into the future through the education of mahouts (elephant owners), vets and the local community on the ways they can support the elephant population.

Our Elephant Veterinary Centre

  • Location: The STEF Veterinary Centre is based at Khok Kloi, Phang Nga Province (north of Phuket). It occupies land reclaimed from an old rubber plantation, creating a bio-diverse environment for Asian elephants and other native wildlife.
  • Accessibility: Before the hospital opened in July 2022, the only other elephant hospital was a four-hour drive across the country—a challenging journey for sick, injured, or recently treated animals. Our location ensures quicker access to medical care.
  • Future Vision: We envision our hospital becoming an education centre for elephant welfare and care. Elephant enthusiasts and veterinary practitioners from around the world can exchange information and better understand the needs of endangered Asian elephants.

Our Impact

  • 700 Truck-Loads of Feed: During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, elephant welfare in Thailand faced challenges when owners struggled to feed their elephants. STEF ran a major campaign, raising funds to deliver over 700 truck-loads of feed to hungry elephants.
  • Vulnerable Elephants: We continue to provide free veterinary care to vulnerable elephants. As a small charity run mostly by volunteers, our impact is significant. We are seeing more and more mahouts and vets from other elephant hospitals asking us for help and seeking our expert advice.

How You Can Help

Support Our Vital Work: By supporting STEF, you directly impact elephant welfare. Your donations enable us to provide essential care and advocate for these gentle giants.

The Adopt an Elephant Programme: You can now sponsor the care of the elephants coming into the veterinary centre. Your money/contribution would go towards feeding the elephants, providing vital medicine to treat sick and injured animals, supporting our expert veterinary team, supporting the running of our mobile clinic and much more! You will get the chance to learn more about the patients and provide vital funds for the overall care of elephants who need your help. Our dedicated newsletter will keep you up to date on our cases as they come in.

Join us in safeguarding the future of Thailand’s elephants.  Remember, every click and every share brings us closer to ensuring a better life for these magnificent creatures. 

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