A future we can still shape

Elephants are more than a species to protect. They are part of living landscapes, deep ecological relationships, and the shared future of people and nature. Bring The Elephant Home is dedicated to the well-being and survival of African and Asian elephants, and to a world where people, elephants, and ecosystems can thrive together.

Since our founding in 2004, we have worked with communities living alongside elephants to create practical, evidence-based solutions for coexistence. Our approach is rooted in shared decision-making, local knowledge, scientific research, and a deep respect for the connections that sustain life. Through range expansion, habitat restoration, elephant-friendly livelihoods, and regenerative coexistence solutions, we help build resilient landscapes that benefit communities, elephants, and the natural world they share.

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Protecting elephants protects life

Elephants shape the ecosystems they are part of. They disperse seeds, maintain grasslands, create pathways, and help find water, supporting many other species and the wider web of life. Their value also reaches beyond ecology. As intelligent, social, and sentient beings, elephants inspire wonder, care, cultural meaning, and moral responsibility. They also support conservation economies through tourism and nature-based livelihoods, while reminding us that healthy elephant landscapes need space, connection, and thoughtful land-use planning.

At Bring The Elephant Home, we protect elephants in the wild by restoring their habitat, strengthening coexistence, and supporting the communities living alongside them. By protecting elephants, we help safeguard the relationships, livelihoods, and living landscapes that enable people and nature to thrive together.

Read our full mission here.

Antoinette van de Water – founder BTEH

Join us!

We welcome partners, volunteers, donors, and sponsors who want to support our work in Asia and Africa. Please consider making a donation for our activities in Asia or Africa, or following our latest news to stay involved.

Meet the team

Bring The Elephant Home is active across three continents, with registered organisations supporting our work in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Our team works with communities, researchers, conservation partners, and supporters to turn coexistence into practical action.

There is still much to do, and your support is always welcome. For more information, contact: support@bteh.org.

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Latest news

Today is World Elephant Day: Help Us Reach the Finish Line!

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What Happens when Elephants are Given more Space?

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BTEH Lab Experiences

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Newest video

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  • Next weekend, our Director of Strategy, Ave Owen, will present at the online and free conference of @aip.anthrozoology!🌿 Ave will talk about the inequities of human-elephant coexistence in Thailand and dive deeper in the deterrent strategies and crop protection costs. Ave will present findings from their master research on the financial and social costs of living near elephants in farms bordering Kuiburi National Park. Join Ave’s presentation at 2:10pm UTC on Saturday, September 5! 🔗 Go to the link in our bio to register for the event
  • 🐘 What happens when elephants are given more space? Our new open-access study in Ecology and Evolution followed 75 elephants across five matriarchal herds before and after two internal fences were removed at Kariega Game Reserve, South Africa. Using GPS collars, behavioural observations, vegetation data and stress hormone analysis, we found that elephants expanded their home ranges, stress levels dropped, social bonding increased, and vegetation did not show disproportionate degradation in areas used by elephants. During the study, the elephants: •⁠ ⁠increased their home range by 30% •⁠ ⁠incorporated natural seasonal rotations reducing browsing pressure on the reserve overall •⁠ ⁠showed a 108% increase in locomotion •⁠ ⁠spent 24.3% less time on foraging •⁠ ⁠increased social bonding by 66% •⁠ ⁠reduced aggressive behavior by 20% •⁠ ⁠had a decline of 18% in stress-related physical biomarkers •⁠ ⁠Importantly, areas that elephants had access to had similar vegetation greenness than areas elephants were restricted from after fence removal. The findings challenge the idea that elephant management must rely on intensive population management measures, and instead point to the importance of space, connectivity and restoring natural movement - benefiting elephants, ecosystems and humans. As lead author Brooke Friswold explains: “It’s not that there are too many elephants — there’s not enough space.” 🔗Check the link in our bio to read the full paper and watch the video of our findings!
  • Bring The Elephant Home partnered with @earthrangertech to host a participatory training workshop for 35 local people, including Kui Buri Wildlife Ecotourism Club members and Kuiburi National Park rangers. Workshop participants shared their ideas and priorities for spatial and temporal wildlife monitoring during ecotourism activities in Kuiburi National Park, followed by practical training using the EarthRanger mobile app. Our partnership with EarthRanger has enhanced BTEH’s long-term elephant monitoring program in Kuiburi National Park, and this workshop represents an important step towards our vision of community-based conservation and locally led scientific research. By combining local knowledge, long-term field experience and accessible monitoring technology, we aim to strengthen the capacity of local stakeholders to collect and use wildlife data within the landscapes they know best. This was the first in a series of participatory workshops. We are grateful to the funders making this work possible, including @cincinnatizoo, @ruffordgrants, @cssasianelephant, Lucie Burgers Foundation, @abrivoordieren and @theelephantsanctuary in Tennessee.
  • The collars are coming off, but the story they helped uncover is just beginning. 🐘🌿 Over the past several years, Bring The Elephant Home and the Kariega Foundation, working alongside the Kariega Game Reserve team and research partners, have been studying what happens when reserves remove fences and give elephants and other wildlife something increasingly rare: more space to move. And the results are incredibly exciting. Following the removal of internal fences and the expansion of available elephant habitat at Kariega Game Reserve: ⬇️ Stress hormones decreased ⬇️ Aggressive behavior decreased ⬆️ Movement increased 🐘 Elephants expanded their home ranges 🐘 Healthy seasonal rotation patterns emerged, with elephants shifting their use of the landscape across seasons 🌿 And importantly, vegetation density in areas used by elephants were comparable to areas without elephants —challenging the assumption that elephant presence inevitably leads to ecological degradation. Together, these findings challenge one of the most persistent narratives surrounding elephant conservation: What if the problem isn’t too many elephants—but not enough space? Elephants evolved to move across vast, dynamic landscapes—following rainfall, resources and seasonal changes. At Kariega, the bold choice in removing barriers allowed us to watch what happened when elephants were once again able to make more of those choices for themselves. The results tell a powerful story about space, connectivity and coexistence—and demonstrate why expanding and reconnecting habitat can be an important alternative to managing elephants simply by managing their numbers. The collars may be coming off, but the journey to remove fences and reconnect landscapes in Southern Africa continues. Thank you to all of the many people and partners who joined us on this journey and made it possible. 🎥 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTrVmHABlKo Read the full publication findings here: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73619 Filming by @keystones_expedition Editing by 7 Stones Music by @marcorrellmusic #Kariega #BringTheElephantHome #ElephantConservation #ElephantResearch #wildlifehabitat
  • Support Fairuse's training and help to protect Asian Elephants in Bangladesh!🐘 Bangladesh is home to one of the smallest and most vulnerable Asian elephant populations. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and human–elephant conflict continue to threaten both elephants and local communities, making local conservation leadership essential. By joining BTEH’s Elephant Research Program, Fairuse can gain hands-on field training and bring that knowledge back to strengthen elephant conservation in Bangladesh. Your support is not just funding one person’s training, it is investing in the future of elephants, communities, and coexistence in Bangladesh. Donate now via the link in bio! #BringTheElephantHome #ElephantConservation #AsianElephants
  • Celebrate World Elephant Day by helping us reach the finish line! Today is World Elephant Day, and there's never been a better time to help create a safer future for elephants. Our wildlife camera sponsorship campaign has yet to achieve its €5,000 goal, and our Zooniverse community science project needs more volunteers to help analyze wildife camera images. Whether you donate, volunteer, or share this post, your support helps protect elephants and the communities that live alongside them. Link in bio to donate and participate! #WorldElephantDay #BringTheElephantHome #CommunityScience #Zooniverse #WildlifeConservation