Elephant Friendly Tourist Guide
You have the power to change the world for elephants.
The best place to see elephants is in the wild. But if you’re going to visit an elephant venue, make sure it allows elephants to be elephants while educating visitors on their complex needs.
Share your experience, leave reviews on sites like TripAdvisor, and be part of the movement to create a better future for elephants.
What’s in a name?
A venue may call itself a sanctuary, rescue center, or retirement home for elephants, but don’t assume this means it’s higher welfare. Do your research before booking and use our guide below to avoid being misled.
Is touching allowed?
Only visit venues where you can look, not touch. Elephants are wild animals who belong in the wild. If a venue allows you to get close enough to ride, bathe, or touch them, it’s because they’ve been cruelly trained.
Are the elephants behaving like elephants?
If the elephants in a venue are not allowed to freely move and express natural behavior, it’s not the place for you. Elephants in the wild spend their days roaming long distances, grazing and socializing with other elephants, not confined in small enclosures, or forced to perform.
Are there baby elephants there?
They might be cute, but if you can see or touch a baby elephant, especially without its mom, then the venue is not elephant-friendly. Baby elephants are tourist magnets, but true elephant-friendly venues shouldn’t allow breeding. You shouldn’t be seeing young elephants, except for orphanages where babies are rescued from the wild.
Are the elephants and people safe?
Elephants should always be treated with kindness and respect, and hooks shouldn’t be used unless in a real emergency. Being wild animals, captive elephants can be unpredictable and dangerous, especially if they’re being crowded. Many tourists and mahouts are injured and killed each year. Even in elephant-friendly venues, you’ll often see mahouts accompanying elephants at a distance, to keep everyone safe.
Elephant-friendly venues
Even with all the right information, it can still be difficult to find the right elephant-friendly venue. To make your life easier, we’ve created a list of some venues we know are doing the right thing for elephants.
The venues below received the highest scores in our most recent assessment and are categorized according to whether they 1) meet our elephant-friendly guidelines and 2) offer hand-feeding over a barrier. Some listed venues are not yet adhering to our elephant-friendly guidelines because they still offer limited forms of direct interaction (such as hand-feeding over a barrier) and/or other practices outlined in the key, or because conversations about elephant-friendly practices have not yet been held with the venue. For a comprehensive list of venues and their offerings, check the full list in the report.
Key
- ✅ Meets World Animal Protection’s elephant-friendly guidelines*
- 🟡 Offers hand-feeding over a barrier
*World Animal Protection’s elephant-friendly guidelines help transition venues to incorporate best-practice animal management and avoid further increasing the captive elephant population. Such venues will allow elephants more autonomy, more opportunities to engage in natural behaviours, and will avoid direct contact with visitors.
Cambodia
Nepal
Thailand
- Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary ✅
- Burm and Emily’s Elephant Sanctuary ✅
- ChangChill (locations in Chiang Mai/View Doi and Hillside) ✅
- Elephant Forest Phitsanulok ✅
- Following Giants Koh Lanta ✅ and Following Giants Krabi ✅
- Global Vision International ✅
- Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary ✅
- Mahouts Elephant Foundation - LIFE Project ✅
- Mahouts Elephant Foundation - Palatha Project ✅
- Phuket Elephant Sanctuary ✅ (Phasing out hand-feeding by April 2026)
- Somboon Legacy ✅
Additional High-Welfare Venues
(Conversations on elephant-friendly practices have not yet occurred)
India
Laos
Nepal
- Association Moey, Nepal 🟡
Thailand
- Elephant Hills, Khao Sok 🟡
- Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai 🟡 (Due to a legal investigation, this venue is temporarily removed from the elephant-friendly list)
- Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, Chiang Rai 🟡
- Hidden Forest Elephant Reserve, Phuket 🟡
- Isara Elephant Foundation, Chiang Mai
- Khao Sok Elephant Sanctuary, Khao Sok 🟡
- Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve, Phuket
- Samui Elephant Sanctuary, Koh Samui 🟡
- Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, Phetchaburi 🟡
View our full list of elephant venues and how they are performing in our latest report
ChangChill: better for elephants, better for tourism
We spent several years helping one venue, ChangChill, to become truly elephant-friendly.
With our support, that of the TUI Care Foundations, and the encouragement from some of the world’s leading travel companies, ChangChill is now a place where elephants can be elephants, and tourists can have the honor of witnessing that.