Despite their natural beauty, many of Thailand’s forest areas are suffering from illegal poaching, habitat destruction, and unsustainable tourism practices. While the trees may still stand tall, animals like elephants, gibbons, hornbills, and leopards are disappearing from their natural habitats. These forests are turning into quiet, lifeless spaces—a tragic sign of biodiversity loss.

The wildlife sanctuary in Thailand was started back in 2001 and is spread across seven acres. As a sanctuary for mistreated animals, the facility mainly takes care of those that are sick or handicapped, which tends to include a lot which have been kept as pets or used within the tourism industry. For example, the project has a crocodile who became too big for his owner to keep at his home, whereas there are also two elephants who were used in the tourist industry for many years, as well as many other animals. Once the animals are nursed back up to full strength they are, where possible, released back into the wild.

Unfortunately, for numerous reasons, some are not able to be released so they will stay in the sanctuary. Some animals are born on site and spend their entire lives there. For these animals, living in the wild is just not possible due to becoming used to a certain way of life around their parents, which is why the educational side of the foundation is so important. They visit children in local schools, in the hope that by passing on knowledge, the future generations can take better care of wildlife.

Endangered species worldwide depend on the help and protection of animal rights activists. In Thailand, greed, corruption and above all, a low level of education are the causes for a decrease in specie numbers. Also, due to a lack of awareness across the country of the need to conserve plants and the environment due to the role they play for the habitats, our animal friends need as much help as we can give them!

You’ll have the chance to take an active role in protecting endangered species and also support the team in educating the local population. You'll find quite the mix of animals, from monkeys, bears and birds, through to elephants and wolves.