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[helpelephants]

Once again Andrew, our head trainer, is off in the jungle somewhere on the first of our "continuation training" workshops. Having started two projects in Assam and Kerala last year, we are returning to the same locations once again to ensure that our techniques are being used correctly and that any difficulties or questions the mahouts have are being addressed. The locations of these workshops is rather remote, so communication with the ground crew is quite limited, however as soon as we hear from them we shall post an update. For now, heres a photo from the Assam workshop last year that shows little Purdoi and her mahout as we last saw them. The young mahout on Purdoi's back and Purdoi with her trunk happily in the air looking for a reward following a successful repetition. All of us here at h-elp.org are impatiently waiting to hear how they are progressing! #helporg #AndrewMclean #elephant #welfare #mahout #Assam #Kerala #training #workshop

[helpelephants]

One month to go before our next workshops! Our head teacher and trainer Andrew McLean is visiting both our #Kerala and #Assam programs to check up on the #mahouts & their progress. The best part of all is that we'll get to see our #elephant #friends again! Our #workshops are usually quite intensive and it can be a lot of information for the mahouts to take on board, so our periodic visits re-enforce our methodology and help to ensure the mahouts are applying the ele-friendly techniques effectively. Looking forward to bringing you some news from the field about how our students are progressing! -the team at h-elp.org #helporg

[helpelephants]

Its a bit surreal & so beautiful to look across a field of deer & to notice two Indian One Horned Rhinos amongst them!! Guys and girls, #WorldRhinoDay is only a month away! Sept 22 like #WorldElephantDay is another celebration of one of the worlds great, majestic & sadly, critically endangered animals. Rhino's are one of the reasons we work with the elephant-mounted Mahouts of Kaziranga, as the elephants are an invaluable helper to the rangers that protect the Rhinos from poaching! The unobtrusive elephant offers the rangers natural access to the rhinos allowing them to get really close whilst reducing the rhino-human interaction. Mark your calendars, September 22nd; spare a thought for Rhinos and the people out there putting their lives on the line to protect them. #helporg Photo: @benfultongillon

[helpelephants]

Clever girl! This exact moment was a landmark for our last workshop. Without using the horrible #Ankus or other types of tool used to control #elephants with pain, we taught Sundari to pick up the laurel, walk to the Department of Forestry officer and place the flowers around his neck. This was when the last of the skeptical #mahouts saw that alternative methods of #training elephants, that didn't require pain & submission, were possible. #helporg

[helpelephants]

Rangers from #Kaziranga National Park receiving certificates and t-shirts from Andrew after attending one of our workshops in March 2013. Followed by a feast of "home made" goat stew and Assamese tea, the rangers discussed what they had learned and how each of them would implement their new skills. They use their (amazingly unobtrusive) elephants for wildlife surveillance and anti poaching operations. We are looking forward to returning in 2014 to see their progress. #helporg #helpelephants

[helpelephants]

Since harnessing the first elephant some 5000 years ago in the flourishing culture of the Indus Valley, there are currently around 14,000 working elephants across Asia. Deeply intertwined with culture and beliefs, the working elephant has become a fundamental part of Asia. Coupled with their outstanding intelligence and incredible strength, elephants are known for their family loyalty, their majestic and intimidating stature and their extraordinary ability to work with humans in such vital operations as National Park surveillance where they are indispensable in curtailing poaching. Elephants are not domestic animals - they have never been selectively bred for any traits. So it is all the more remarkable that such a profound symbiosis can occur between man and animal. It is only now, as the working elephant begins to vanish from the forest workplace that far more humane and efficient advances in teaching elephants their various tasks have been developed The Human Elephant Learning Programs Foundation, together with the Wildlife Trust of India is proud to forge these new frontiers in the relationship between humans and elephants. #helporg

[helpelephants]

Human Elephant Learning Programs is now on Instagram! @helpelephants #helporg We get to see some truly awe inspiring and beautiful things during our workshops, we're looking forward to sharing them with you. This mahout is bathing his elephant after returning from an anti-poaching patrol. Elephants are indispensable assets for the #Kaziranga National Park rangers, especially in their efforts to protect the growing population of Greater Indian One Horned Rhinos. We aim to improve the welfare of working elephants, through the systematic application of humane, evidence based training. By doing this we will also improve the welfare and safety of the mahouts.