They have been working together for years. Jointly, they founded the untiring nonprofit Gentle Giants. The two women have raised over USD$ 130,000 in the past five months to safely keep elephants out of the tourist industry in Thailand, yet each one has a full-time job. This is their passion project and boy have they accomplished something!

The very driven and committed Colby Steiner and Diana Muñoz are the reason why over 100 former working elephants in Thailand have safely returned to their natural habitat. Today, they share how it all started and how, despite living on the other side of the world, their project is changing the lives of Thai communities and elephants at the same time.

Elephants in Thailand play a massive role in the tourist industry. They are responsible for generating a huge revenue for their owners, venues and camps. However, it comes with a high cost to their freedom and to the detriment of their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.

Some of the common practices when it comes to elephant attractions in Thailand - and in the rest of Asia - include: Separating mothers from their babies and forcing them to perform throughout their lives. In the process, their spirits are progressively broken until they can no longer resist.  When the elephants are not working, their owners keep them chained.  Beatings of these graceful animals are common.

Abuse and neglect are widely spread which result in stereotypical behavior (swaying and head bobbing) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (Read my post on the topic What is Happening to Asia’s Elephants? )

What Colby Steiner and Diana Muñoz have been able to achieve is something so many of us could only wish for: Helping working elephants (and their babies) return to their forests, instead of being sold or employed for use as beasts of burden.

Through Gentle Giants, Colby and Diana have donated over USD $134,000 to care for elephants and their communities in the Mae Chaem area in Northern Thailand. Their organization was awarded the Silver Seal of Transparency by Guidestar.

So how did all this start and how, despite the myriad challenges, are these two brave women able to relocate elephants from so far away?

Colby’s journey began when she learned about the rescue of two elephants that took place at the Global Sanctuary for Elephants in Brazil. Colby’s strong calling and deep love for elephants ignited the need to get involved and to use her skills to be an agent of change for elephants in any corner of the world.

For Diana, it was watching a documentary on elephant suffering and learning about the daily challenges they face. She decided that merely knowing about this cause wasn’t enough. She knew she had to share what she had learned and that she needed to change the fate of the captive elephants somehow.

What Colby and Diana shared was a common understanding that they had both been called to help these animals. The question was how.

Their joint experience in the rescue, advocacy, fundraising and creation of awareness of the plight of working elephants gave them the tools they needed to start their nonprofit Gentle Giants.

When COVID-19 temporarily shut the tourist industry in Thailand, they took advantage of the timely opportunity to work with the elephant handlers who had started the long journey back to their villages. In doing so, they developed a plan to meet the needs of both elephants and communities. But, their overall goal was simple: To keep the elephants safely there. For good.

This plan allowed both men and elephants to benefit from their Gentle Giants Stay Home project:

• Their mahouts (handlers) would still be employed, plus they would earn fair wages and stay with their families;

• The elephants would no longer be forced to work in the tourist and logging industry, nor would they be chained again. Instead they would roam around freely in the forest together with other elephants;

• The communities would welcome their men and elephants back and learn a new way to relate to the gentle giants while earning an income through farming and food supply.

The days of mistreatment and neglect of both mahouts and their elephants were over. This project was the win-win alternative and solution.

How has life changed for the elephants that have joined the Gentle Giants Stay Home Project?

For Sai Thong, a baby elephant born on May 2nd 2020, it meant being able to stay with her mom, Wang. Thong. She would not face the threat of being sold, broken nor exploited. In the wild, female elephants stay together for all of their lives. This is now possible for mother and daughter thanks to this project.

Through the Gentle Giants Stay Home Project 106 elephants - including Wan Mae and Mae Mai- have been able to safely return and stay at their villages. This means that they are now living more peacefully, without being exploited or mistreated by the tourist industry as they once were. They spend their days at the forest, reconnecting to Mother Nature.

These formerly-abused elephants enjoy abundant, healthy food and water; periodic checkups by veterinarians; daily life in the forest and the precious opportunity to keep the herds together.

Gentle Giants will make everything possible to help them stay safe and happy. This means that all the donations, funding and sponsorship they receive will allow those elephants that have joined the Gentle Giants Stay Home project to stay out of the tourist industry. They’re finally home and with your help, we can keep them there.

How did Colby and Diana start Gentle Giants?

As a result of the pandemic, these elephants were unemployed ad starving as tourists no longer were traveling to Thailand. Thus, Colby saw the urgent necessity to help Thailand's captive elephants in that moment. Her relentless commitment to the cause and her activism gave her ideas on how to take advantage of this opportunity.

As for Diana, it was years since she had been in contact with the world renowned elephant welfare advocate, Lek Chailert. During all that time, she had wanted to put a halt to the misery of Asia’s captive elephants, including to the beloved Kaavan, known as “the world’s loneliest elephant”. COVID-19 made things possible for her and for Colby.

Gentle Giants was born.

With the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on tourism, is there a new way we can relate to elephants?

Colby and Diana explain that through projects like Gentle Giants Stay Home, people have realized that, as humans, we can continue admiring the elephants without having to cause them any harm.

This pandemic has created a chance for all of us to make big changes in how we interact and relate to wildlife; letting them return to nature, protecting their existing natural habitats. 

These are changes that will benefit not only the animals, but the environment as well, which ultimately benefits us humans. 

Gentle Giants Stay Home is the perfect example on how supporting such projects can sustainably improve the lives of communities and wildlife alike.

What have been their most rewarding experiences since starting Gentle Giants?

The ripple effect has been a tremendous reward, Colby explains.  It is not only about providing security and protection for 106 elephants to live peacefully, but also creating job opportunities and a source of income for many of the local villagers.

The environment has benefited, too. Gentle Giants has helped with reforestation and protecting forest ecosystems.

For Diana, the most rewarding experience has been seeing the elephants thrive and seeing them behave like elephants. At the same time, being able to help so many Thai families and local farmers while keeping the gentle giants safe has been really gratifying.

We have provided work opportunities, helped local farmers, help hundreds of human beings and kept the gentle giants safe.

Diana Muñoz, Founder

What have been the biggest challenges Colby and Diana have encountered so far?

Aside from the myriad roadblocks that animal welfare activists experience in any country, like legislation or lack thereof, politics, culture, tradition, etc, the most challenging thing is not being able save all of those who need saving.

Lack of funds means many applicants are turned away. There just isn’t enough money to help all who want to join this project. Funds are limited.

This is why I wanted to write an article about Gentle Giants. To me, sharing their wonderful yet difficult work is a way to help them be seen and to appeal to people like you, my wonderful readers, to support their work and to spread the word.

What is their advice to those women who want to do something for elephants or other animals and don’t know where to start?

Colby suggests to start by joining groups on social media; signing petitions; educating yourself on the needs of elephants around the world; engaging in conversations with those who are experienced; volunteering for nonprofits; supporting campaigns, etc. 

Diana believes that a good place to start is by advocating for those you want to help. To her, there is no better way to get a better understanding of a situation than seeing the problem first hand, being part of the fight to change, and being part of the solution.

How can the rest of us help Asian elephants from afar?

Thailand is amongst the 15 countries in the world that has been the most affected by the lack of tourism. It has also had a loss of USD $ 47 billion in GDP from its tourist industry revenue.* Hundreds -if not thousands- of elephants are in desperate need for help.

Here’s what you can do today:

• Sponsor an elephant and help them stay in their own habitats with their herd and caretakers.

• Sponsor a baby elephant so that they can stay safely together with their mothers.

• Help build an elephant shelter to keep them secure at night and have a place to rest after their day in the forest.

• Add Gentle Giants Stay Home Project to your Amazon Smile account at no cost to you. Simply add it as your preferred charity and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to Gentle Giants.

“Join the journey and be a part of the change!  We have an amazing opportunity to change the lives of elephants and humans alike with the Gentle Giants Stay Home Project.”

Colby Steiner, Co-Founder

Please consider sponsoring an elephant today and tell your friends about the Gentle Giants Stay Home project!

Follow Gentle Giants at

Website:  https://www.thegentletiants.org

Email:  info@thegentlegiants.org 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/GentleGiantsStayHomeProject

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GentleNon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gentlegiantsstayhome/

YouTube:  Gentle Giants Stay Home Project! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW1txt_hOnQYQtE2sKbfmrA

Thank you for being here! The more sponsors there are, the more elephants we can help save. Tell your friends about the Gentle Giants Stay Home project and sponsor an elephant - or baby elephant today.

Namaste.

Di

Source:

*United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Report “COVID-19 and Tourism: Assessing the Economic Consequences”