UNIQUE VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS FOR CHILDREN

BY ANANTARA GOLDEN TRIANGLE

Renowned Indian actors Neelam Kothari and Samir Soni, with their daughter Ahana, are currently holidaying at the best all-inclusive resort in the Maldives – Lily Beach Resort & Spa

Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort has introduced a complimentary service for school children in lockdown that stars elephants in a personal call live from their natural habitat in Northern Thailand’s ancient jungle. During the video call, children around the world can virtually participate in a jungle field trip of unique and once-in-a-lifetime elephant experiences, including the resort’s Walking With Giants signature experience that provides an optimum way of getting to know the elephants and develop a deeper emotional connection with them. The community initiative follows the success of the luxury resort at the confluence of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, and the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation’s (GTAEF) twice-daily live streams of rescued elephants enjoying their walks in the jungle and taking a mud bath in the Ruak River, that garnered more than five million views since the start of the global pandemic. The resort is world-famous for its elephant camp that, along with the GTAEF, was set up in 2003 primarily to help street begging elephants and others that could not help themselves. To date over 60 elephants have been rescued from Thailand’s city streets and other aggravating circumstances, of which 23 now live in the jungle environment of the resort along with their entire mahout (carer) families.

During the live stream, children are introduced to their threeton video call companions and have ample time to ask questions about the pachyderms to the GTAEF’s elephant experts. Then, championing the natural joy of the herd of elephants’ daily free-roaming time, accompanied by the mahouts and either a veterinarian or biologist, the live stream offers insights from scientific experts about how these intelligent creatures think and behave. Walking out to the forest unveils river and wild nature scenery and, falling in pace with the slow, steady rhythm, the children can observe the elephants’ social interaction in their native habitat. Each virtual field trip is customized to meet the needs and curriculum of the students.

Commenting on the virtual jungle field trips for children who are confined or isolated by lockdown restrictions in their countries, Mr. John Roberts, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas’ Group Director of Sustainability & Conservation, said that school children from Thailand to Melbourne to Colorado have gathered in front of monitors with handcrafted binoculars and paper-mâché elephant ears to watch the three-ton gentle giants lumber through the jungle. “Whilst this entertaining and educational experience is a temporary virtual substitute for educational institutions’ learning through exposure to nature and nature-based activities, it is the escapism and the enthusiasm that it affords young minds – some often trapped in challenging and confusing circumstances – that make it all worthwhile. Distant learning can indeed be fun and inspiring and, who knows, we may have a few newly qualified elephant veterinarians come knocking on our jungle door in ten to fifteen years’ time,” Roberts concluded.

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