The year 2026 is unfolding….
and with it come new projects, new encounters and new stories to write.
The entire Mekong Elephant Park team wishes you a very happy new year and sincerely thanks you for being part of this collective adventure. Before sharing our upcoming projects and stories with you, let’s take a moment to mark this new beginning together.
New Year’s Baci
To mark the transition to the new year, the Mekong Elephant Park team gathered for a Baci, a traditional Lao ceremony dedicated to protection and harmony. In Pakbeng, this moment was an opportunity to make simple and sincere wishes for the elephants, for the teams who care for them on a daily basis, and for the year ahead.
The Mekong Elephant Park in the media!
This January also saw some great French media coverage: Courrier International devoted a two-part article to the Mekong elephants, focusing in particular on the work carried out at Mekong Elephant Park.
It is a sensitive and well-researched piece, offering an accurate insight into daily life at the park, the bonds between the elephants and the teams that care for them, and the realities on the ground. We highly recommend reading it. All you’ll need is your browser’s translator.
1 Mahout / 1 Elephant — Mae Nat and Mr Seung
Born in 1980 in Hongsa, in the province of Sayaboury, Mae Nat lived for a long time far from what an elephant’s life should be. After years spent hauling wood in the forestry industry, she was sent to Japan, where she was then exploited in circus tourism. Her journey was marked by captivity, constant displacement and the absence of forest, all of which left their mark, even on the most resilient elephants.
When Mae Nat joined the Mekong Elephant Park in January 2023, thanks to a rescue project and the support of numerous donors, it was not just a change of location. It was the beginning of a new era: finding her bearings again, relearning how to live surrounded by other elephants, without shows, without staging, without having to “play a role”.
Upon her arrival, she was also reunited with her niece Mae Ping, a meaningful first family reconnection. And that was only the beginning! A few months later, in July 2023, she was reunited with her younger half-sister, Mae Nin, completing a long-awaited reunion.
At her side is Mr Seung, originally from Mok Kan, the youngest mahout in our team. With no previous experience with elephants, he chose to learn in a different way: by observing more experienced mahouts and gradually integrating himself into the collective work. Day after day, he is learning to recognise Mae Nat’s subtle gestures and signals.
Seung is thus undergoing a different kind of apprenticeship, based on transmission and observation. He embodies this new generation of mahouts that we hope will continue, despite the difficulty and demands of the job. Easily recognisable by his hat, he accompanies Mae Nat on a daily basis, who has now become one of the quiet forces of the female herd since Mae Kham’s “retirement”.
Objectives for 2026 — Continuing to build step by step
The year 2026 will see the continuation of the work carried out at Mekong Elephant Park: improving the daily lives of the elephants, strengthening the park’s essential infrastructure and continuing our commitment to the forest and local communities. All of our objectives for the coming year are listed in a detailed PDF document.
Here are the main priorities that will guide our actions in 2026:
Improving essential infrastructure
- Construction of a new storage facility for bananas and corn to ensure the quality and freshness of the food distributed daily to the elephants.
- Renovate the elephant pool, which was damaged by Typhoon Yagi. Its restoration is essential, both for the well-being of our elephants, who regularly use this space to cool off, and to preserve the overall infrastructure of the park.
Providing more space and safety
- Finalise the daytime enclosure (5 hectares), initially planned for 2025, this project could not be completed due to priority repairs made necessary by Typhoon Yagi. In 2026, we wish to make this project a priority once again in order to encourage the natural socialisation of females in a larger and more suitable environment.
- Strengthen military patrols around the protected area, with a target of at least two missions per year, to combat poaching, illegal logging and polluting activities.
- Build a new night fence (10 hectares) in order to guarantee permanent access to food for our elephants, we plan to build a second night fence. This new facility will allow the elephants to be moved safely between two fenced areas as needed.
Strengthen ties with the local community
- Welcoming all Pakbeng school classes, including the youngest children, accompanied by their teachers and parents, representing approximately 400 people. These educational days remain at the heart of our mission to raise awareness about the protection of elephants and the forest.
Adapting the park to the ageing of our elephants
- Build a house for Mae Kham’s mahout, close to her night enclosure, to ensure continuous and appropriate supervision.
The implementation of the objectives presented for 2026 relies heavily on the support we receive through APEEL. It is through the NGO APEEL that Mekong Elephant Park receives most of the funds needed to carry out its projects. Your membership and commitment to APEEL therefore play a key role in enabling the park to continue to move forward.
Renewal of APEEL membership: Continuing to support our elephants
Why? Because protecting elephants and their environment is a long-term endeavour, and every commitment counts towards building a more sustainable future for the species.
Through APEEL, these commitments translate directly into concrete projects carried out in the field: elephant care, forest protection, essential infrastructure and awareness-raising activities.
For $12 per year — or $1 per month — you can join APEEL and participate in a sustainable approach, convinced that the exploitation of elephants is not inevitable.
Beyond its actions in the field, APEEL is also committed to education. Raising awareness among children is also central to the association’s mission, both in Laos and in France, with the development of educational projects and the possibility of organising online exchanges between classes on the topics of elephants and the forest.
Please feel free to share this link with your friends, family, or colleagues. The number of members an association has is one of the best indicators of its vitality and credibility.
Wallpaper of the Month
To kick off 2026, our wallpaper of the month features Mae Nat and Mr Seung. The image reflects their calm presence, their shared daily life and the balance that is built, day after day, within the herd of females.
