Elephant Hills Passes 2024–2026 Animal Welfare Audit with Top Marks

Commitment to Animal Welfare

Elephant Hills is proud to announce that we have once again passed Global Spirit’s independent animal welfare audit for 2024–2026. We achieved 100% of the Core Criteria and reached Level 5 – Exceeded Requirements in key areas such as enclosures, veterinary care, and record-keeping.

This result reflects our ongoing commitment to offering ethical elephant experiences while maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare and conservation.

What Is Animal Welfare?

Animal welfare refers to the physical and mental well-being of animals under human care. It includes factors such as:

• Access to nutritious food and clean water
• A safe, comfortable living environment
• Veterinary care and disease prevention
• Opportunities for natural behavior
• Freedom from stress and suffering

High animal welfare ensures that animals live healthy, content lives and are treated with respect and dignity.

Why Is Animal Welfare Important?

Prioritizing animal welfare is essential for several reasons:

• Ethical responsibility: Animals deserve compassionate, respectful treatment.

• Better health: Well-cared-for animals live longer, healthier lives.

• Conservation impact: Welfare standards support long-term species survival.

• Sustainable tourism: Ethical practices ensure responsible wildlife interactions.

• Community well-being: Good animal care often aligns with strong local support systems.

At Elephant Hills, these principles are at the heart of everything we do.

Our Journey: Leading in Elephant Welfare Since 2017

Since our first audit in 2017, Elephant Hills has remained a leader in elephant welfare. We were the first elephant camp to achieve 100% compliance with the minimum requirements, now known as Core Criteria. In 2019, we took a further step by undergoing the Exceeds Requirements assessment.

By 2024, we had surpassed all key criteria, reaching Level 5 completion—the highest score across all assessed areas.

Ethical Elephant Experiences for Guests

At Elephant Hills, we offer responsible and interactive experiences, such as:

• Ethically interacting with elephants
• Discover elephant history and facts with our expert guides
• Preparing food and supplement balls for elephants
• Watching our exclusive elephant documentary
• Learning to make paper from elephant dung

We are proud to offer an experience that is 100% chain-free, hook-free, and riding-free, allowing our elephants to live peacefully in their natural environment.

“Elephant Hills meets core criteria, exceeds requirements on all relevant criteria, and demonstrates best practice in many areas of operation. As a result, Elephant Hills has the option to work towards Achieving Excellence. This is the highest commendation a facility can achieve during the Global Spirit audit process.”

– Hayley Lynagh, Managing Director, Global Spirit Animals In Tourism Ltd.

Thank You for Your Support

We sincerely appreciate our guests and partners supporting Elephant Hills and our mission to provide ethical, free-roaming elephant experiences. Your continued support helps us maintain the highest standards in sustainable elephant practices.

For more details on our conservation work and ethical elephant experiences, visit our Elephant conservation project.