Elephant Welfare

Improving Elephant Welfare standards in Nepal

At Tiger Tops we are proud of being Nepal´s first and only company to offer responsible elephant experiences.

Our philosophy is to provide the most natural life for our elephants with the highest welfare standards possible. Therefore, Tiger Tops Tharu Lodge is managed and guided by respect for the elephants.

As such, in 2015 we decided to stop all elephant-back safaris due to the stress it caused our herd on encountering dangerous wildlife in an unnatural way. Instead we concentrated on providing our guests with a more interactive experience that imposed far less of a burden on our elephants. In addition, we decided to drastically improve the stabling conditions by building large, spacious corrals over 18 acres of our property for our herd to roam, socialize and relax.

We aim to give our guests the most personal and meaningful experience with our elephants and allow them to connect with the elephants in a more profound but unobtrusive way, by spending time with them throughout the day getting to know their individual personalities, behaviour and habits.

We want you to return home with a deeper understanding of elephants; the elephants’ impact on the eco-system; the mutual dependency between the elephants, people, and the jungle; and your own positive impact by choosing to be responsible tourists.

We strongly believe in leading by example. By choosing to stay at Tiger Tops Tharu Lodge when you visit Chitwan National Park, you are supporting a move towards better elephant management throughout Nepal.

Thank you for your support!

Elephant Welfare Initiatives

Building spacious enclosures

The traditional way of stabling elephants throughout Asia, is by tying it to a pole. Our elephants live in small groups in spacious green enclosures . Elephants are naturally social animals, and the physical contact between them ensures their welfare and gives you a more entertaining experience. The enclosures allow the elephants to be elephants - to dust, to scratch, to play and move freely. It´s a better experience for everyone!

Ending elephant back safaris - walking with elephants instead of riding

At Tiger Tops we do not provide the traditional elephant back safaris but walks into the jungle alongside our herd. We stopped the elephant safaris in order to minimize the use of the ankus (bull hook), which was often necessary during safaris, especially when elephants would encounter tigers.

When you walk with the elephants instead of riding it, the experience is about the elephant itself instead of the elephant as a means for transportation. We find that this is a much more rewarding and engaging experience for our guests who all come away in awe of our resident herd.

Vet care and foot care

We provide frequent vet care and foot care for our own elephants as well as for neighbouring owners.

Activities and how they benefit the elephants

We ask our guests to join in for every part of the journey. By helping the mahouts in their everyday work, we aim to improve intercultural understanding. While you engage with and appreciate the ancient culture of the mahouts, you also inspire them to make the small changes which improve their work with the elephants.

Research

We are continuously striving to increase our knowledge around captive elephant and their welfare as such we have invited a number of researches to Tiger Tops to help us learn more. We continue to look for partners in the scientific community to help us with this.

For further information on how you could help, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.