Working With Elephants
Working With Elephants
Working With Elephants
Working With Elephants

Working With Elephants


There are not many people who will get the chance to work with elephants in their natural environment, but by joining one of our conservation projects you will be able to do just this! Here at The Great Projects, we can offer you the chance to take part in volunteer work with elephants in some of the world's most spectacular locations, including lush Sri Lanka, the deserts of Namibia, the incredible landscape around Victoria Falls and more!

These projects give you the unique chance to see a side of these amazing countries that very few others ever will, and they provide a fantastic opportunity to work alongside elephants both in Africa and Asia. Unlike many elephant sanctuaries where elephants live in a small and confined area, these projects are designed to study and protect herds in vast reserves or in the wild to help to alleviate poaching, human-elephant conflict and other struggles these mammals suffer through. 

The work you complete on these projects will be invaluable to local conservation efforts, and by the time you leave you will have made a long-lasting impact on the preservation of elephants in whichever destination you choose! So take a look at our projects on offer, and you could be working with elephants in no time. 

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Elephants At A Glance

ENDANGERED STATUS
Asian – Endangered, African - Vulnerable
NUMBER REMAINING IN THE WILD
Asian -40,000 – 50,000, African – 470,000
ENDEMIC REGION
Africa and Asia

How Endangered Are Elephants

Elephants have come under increasing pressure over the last 50 years or so, and this is extremely evident in the dramatic decline in their population during this time. Back in 1900, there were thought to be around 3-5 million African Elephants still roaming the grasslands, but throughout the 1980s anywhere up to 100,000 elephants were killed each year and this has resulted in a drastic fall in elephant numbers down to around just 470,000 today.

Things are not any better for the Asiatic elephant, as they only number between 40,000 and 50,000 and are classed as endangered.

Threats Elephants Are Facing

Elephants face a number of threats on a daily basis. The main threats are:

  • Habitat Loss – as humans take more of the land the elephants once lived in, the animals are left with nowhere to gather water or food.
  • Illegal Ivory Trade – the demand from the Far East for ivory is not letting up, and the elephants are suffering from relentless poaching as a result.
  • Human-Elephant Conflict – as humans encroach on elephant habitat, the two parties often come into conflict. The elephants very rarely come out on top.
Fast Facts
  • Elephants are social creatures. They sometimes “hug” by wrapping their trunks together in displays of greeting and affection.
  • An elephant is capable of hearing sound waves well below our human hearing limitation. The far-reaching use of high-pressure infrasound opens the elephant’s spatial experience far beyond our capabilities.
  • Elephants have greeting ceremonies when a friend that has been away for some time returns to the group.
Where you can go
Contact Info
UK Office
The Great Traveller Ltd,
3 Dairy Yard
Star Street
Ware, Hertfordshire
SG12 7DX
United Kingdom

Opening hours:
   Mon-Fri 8:30am–5:30pm
   Sat 10am-4pm

T: +44(0) 208 885 4987

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