THE ELEPHANT QUEEN

   My article on Lek Chailert, known around the world as the Elephant Queen, has been published in the January issue of Faces magazine. The article profiles Lek's great love and compassion for the endangered Asian elephant, and her commitment to saving them from abuse, returning them to their natural surroundings, and preserving their dwindling habitat. To this end, Lek and her husband, Adam, founded Elephant Nature Park in 1995 as an elephant sanctuary. Once numbering around 400,000 in Thailand alone, there are less than 30 - 40,000 Asian elephants on the planet!
   These gentle giants need all the help they can get if they are to survive. They can eat up to 650 lbs. of food a day which is the equivalent of about 2,600 hamburgers! The upkeep can be pretty costly, especially since many of them have been abused and enter the sanctuary with injuries. There are vet bills, medicines, equipment etc. If you're interested in saving the Asian Elephant from extinction, please visit The Elephant Nature Park website for more information, and how you can help.