Yaboumba and the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) are proud to present you this first international vet lectures with hands-on workshop on Elephant medicine and surgery !

The two main lecturers are

Dr. Endre Sos, Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine, head vet of Budapest Zoo, past president of the European Association of Wild and Zoo Veterinarians (EAZWV), vet advisor of the Elephant EEP programs.

Dr. Norin Chai, Diplomate of the European College of Zoological Medicine, former head vet of Ménagerie Zoo in Paris, former president of ElefantAsia and president-founder of Yaboumba.

The ECC team has been involved in numerous projects in Laos for the protection of the Asian elephants since 2001, setting up a registration system for captive elephants, mobile vet clinics, emergency response cards, a protocol and training for immobilisation of elephants in musth, an elephant care manual, national anti-trafficking campaigns, good practice guides for tourism and mobile libraries for local communities among other things. In 2010, the ECC opened to the public: at the time, it was home to 1 elephant and had a concession of 105ha. By 2017, the Center had 13 elephants on its property. In early 2018, the Government of Laos stopped the illegal sale of 12 elephants to an overseas buyer, deciding instead to send them to the ECC. At the same time, they extended our land concession by 435ha and offered us to use 5,500 ha more for pastures. Today, ECC’s 34 elephants have access to 6,000ha of forest and have become the largest herd of elephants under human care in the country. ECC is an emanation of ElefantAsia, a French NGO founded in 2000 decided to launch a campaign to raise awareness for the need to protect the Asian elephant in Laos.