Elephant Health & Welfare Training Workshops

In many Asian countries, training in the treatment and prevention of common conditions and diseases that affect captive elephants is minimal or absent. While there are many practicing veterinarians, few receive specialized university training in elephant health care; most veterinary curriculums focus on domestic livestock and companion animals with little applicability to Asian elephants. ​​With too few knowledgeable veterinarians conditions such as painful foot abnormalities, parasitic diseases, intestinal illnesses, wounds, and infections often do not receive proper treatment or go untreated. 

 

Moreover, injuries sustained by wild elephants often go untreated as well with so few skilled veterinarians available. Many die from injuries such as snare, gunshot, and haka pata (explosives) wounds, or traffic and train collisions, etc.

 

Our Asian colleagues depend on us-with ties to Western funding and emerging technologies and veterinary knowledge-to bring our expertise to them. Below are just a few examples of key workshops that helped to train elephant healthcare providers from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and India,