Dream Job
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Age: 32 Stomping Ground: Sukhothai, Northern Thailand Job: Founder of Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary (BLES); blesele.org When we return from the walk, I collect my children from school and get them bathed and fed, then make sure they get their homework done. I jump online again quickly before the sanctuary guests come down for dinner. Once the guests have retired for the evening, I feed the cats and dogs again and then get the children settled for the night. When they are asleep, I get back online and get the bulk of my correspondence done.
I usually go to bed after I have fed my youngest son, who is still being breastfed during the night, and then it all begins again at 5:00 a.m. What inspires you about BLES? I love elephants because of their emotional intelligence. I love their ability to forgive. I love their intense passion for family. I love the fierce protection they show for their young ones, their physical strength,
and what great teachers they are. I love that they are so loyal and that they allow us humans to walk along beside them. I love everything about elephants! I know I am doing what I was destined to do because, even after ten years of living beside elephants, they still move me to tears in a heartbeat, still make me laugh out loud, and still make my heart swell with pride—daily.
Once revered in Thailand, the Asian elephant is now an endangered species. In the past, elephants were used in Thailand’s logging industry but, once the government cancelled logging concessions, struggling elephant owners faced the choice between feeding their families and feeding their elephants. Now, the tourism industry has elephants performing gymnastic displays and giving tourists rides. Baby elephants are often prematurely separated from their mothers, reducing their life expectancy and overall health. Plus, elephants are often overworked, poorly fed, and sometimes abused. This—plus the reduction of forest space—all contributes to the decline over the past hundred years from an estimated 100,000 elephants in Thailand to about 5,000.
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