Learning the Language of Elephants with @elise_gills For more...

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Learning the Language of Elephants with @elise_gills

For more photos from Elise’s work with elephants in Thailand, follow @elise_gills on Instagram.

“Something really neat that I experience is getting to know a range of elephant personalities. Some elephants are young and playful but easily distracted, whereas others are slow, relaxed and almost stoic,” explains 23-year-old Elise Gilchrist (@elise_gills), an American research assistant and illustrator working with elephants in Thailand’s Chiang Saen District. Elise works alongside Dr. Josh Plotnik and Think Elephants International to better understand the minds of elephants—a task she feels is a crucial step to saving them. “Humans and other primates navigate their world primarily using vision,” she explains. “We do not think the same is true for elephants. We think they use other senses like smell, touch and hearing to understand the world around them.” With these findings, she hopes to instill in others a deeper curiosity about the species and move them to take notice of their plight. “Asian elephants are an endangered species,” Elise reminds, “and I believe that if we do not change the way we interact with them and their environment, they will be extinct within my lifetime.”

In addition to her fieldwork, Elise shares her passion for the gentle giants through her artwork. In her drawings, she conveys her own up-close experiences with the elephants. “Because I have been here for a year and a half now, there are days where I look up at this giant, bizarre creature and have to remind myself that what I see is unique.” She’s currently collaborating with an author to illustrate for an upcoming children’s book, My Backyard Elephant —a story meant to foster environmental literacy and raise funds to protect elephants.

by via Instagram Blog