High school student Hannah Epstein of Lee, New Hampshire traveled to Thailand this summer to volunteer with rescued elephants. She traveled as part of Loop Abroad, a Massachusetts-based family business that takes high school and college students from all over the world on trips to the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand.
The Elephant Nature Park is home to 40 elephants who have been rescued from logging, trekking, and forced breeding programs and whose only job is to be elephants. The elephants have space to form their own herds and interact as they would in the wild, but have their meals, space, and medical care provided by the park. Their care and maintenance are provided by volunteers like Hannah. Volunteers prepare the elephants' food, clean their shelters, feed and bathe them, provide medical care, and help with general grounds maintenance.
Loop Abroad encourages students to apply if they are interested in volunteering with elephants next summer. Financial aid and fundraising assistance are available.
