Rescue, Food & Care for the Elephants at Tree Tops

Hi there.

Our names are Sally and Randal Leonard and we are raising critically needed funds for the care, rescue and feeding of the elephants at Tree Tops Elephant Reserve in Phuket, Thailand.

Tree Tops was founded and is run by Louise Rogerson, a close friend of our family's. Louise has dedicated her life to the rescue of elephants that were previously trapped in the logging industry or forced to give rides and perform shows for tourism entertainment. 
 
Phuket is an island off the coast of Thailand, that relies solely on tourism for survival. With the current pandemic, loss of tourism revenue has had a devastating financial impact on local businesses and animal rescue sanctuaries - and none more so than Tree Tops Elephant Reserve. Tree Tops is a beautiful, ethical elephant sanctuary which opened in October 2019, but sadly had to temporarily close only five months later in March 2020 due to COVID-19. They have been unable to open since and are in desperate need of funds to stay afloat until tourism returns.

Tree Tops is home to 10 beautiful rescued elephants. The youngest Fah Sai, is just 11 years old and their eldest lady Nam Sook (Grandma), is an impressive 70 years.

Tree Tops is pioneering sustainable, ethical elephant tourism in the South of Phuket and offers visitors the adventure of a lifetime as they learn about how to love and respect these majestic animals through a compassionate and gentle approach. Guests get to go 'walking with elephants', observing them in their natural behaviours, going about the serious business of just being an elephant. There are no shows, no rides and no bathing - there are also no chains, no hooked sticks and no cruelty. And it is the most magical place on earth.

Louise has recently rescued 3 new elephants, Phi Seux (Butterfly), Asia and Malee. To help support these elephants, they urgently need funding to support the purchase of daily food. This includes bananas, water melons, sugar cane, Napier grass, pineapple grass and supplementary rice balls. They also need money to pay for monthly vet care and to pay their hard working mahouts who look after the elephants every waking minute.

Randal and I both celebrate our 50th birthdays and our 20th wedding anniversary this year. We consider ourselves blessed in our lives, so we are asking all our friends and family to donate to Tree Tops rather than buy us cards or gifts. In addition, 50 + 50 = 100 - so Randal and I, supported on the day by our son Zach, have decided to embark on a 100km non-stop walk over approx. 30 hours, to raise both money and awareness for this amazing ethical, animal reserve.

By making a small donation to Louise and her elephants, you can ensure the amazing work that she and her team are doing will continue. We will be posting updates and videos of our fundraising endeavours and you can subscribe to Tree Tops social media on Instagram to get daily elephant updates, direct from the elephants themselves. https://www.instagram.com/treetopselephantreserve/

Thank you from the elephants and from Louise, Randal and I for your much needed and very kind donations. Our page will be open until tourism starts again and Tree Tops gets back on its feet. Remember, donating just the price of your daily Starbucks will go a long way to feeding a hungry elephant - so please donate what you can, when you can.

Sally and Randal Leonard