I have known both Sebastien and Gilles since they first started ElefantAsia. I watched them, green and inexperienced, build something wonderful starting from nothing. Especially admirable is the balance they have kept, working closely with the highest levels of government but also learning the Lao language and establishing very close relationships with mahouts. One of ElefantAsia’s greatest achievements is providing the Lao PDR, always seen as a backwater, with Asia’s first — and to this point, only — fully functional, modern registration database.
Member of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group (AESG) and author of Gone Astray: The Care and Management of the Asian Elephant in Domesticity for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The Elephant In Thai Life (Asia Books), Elephant Care Manual for Mahouts and Camp Managers (FAO).
Richard C Lair
