SoPa

Grandma SoPa is a remarkable elderly elephant, born in 1941, who endured decades of hard labour and exploitation. Her early years were spent in the logging industry, hauling heavy logs from the forest. She was later sent to a trekking camp, where she resisted carrying tourists and was consequently sold back into logging.

Her hardships continued when she was sold to an elephant camp in Chiang Mai. After intense training, she was used for both riding and breeding for over a decade. Despite her advancing age, she was sold again, this time to a riding camp in Pattaya, where the grueling work of giving rides continued.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, SoPa’s health declined rapidly due to exhaustion, malnutrition, and old age, leading to frequent falls. Her owner brought her to a hospital for treatment, but it became clear that she needed more than just medical care — she needed a loving, nurturing home that could provide for her specific needs.

With help from Trunks Up, a U.S.-based nonprofit, Save Elephant Foundation rescued SoPa. On 21 May 2023, after a 24-hour journey, she arrived safely at the sanctuary to begin a long-overdue new chapter.

Over time Grandma SoPa settled into sanctuary life and spends her days exploring, wading into river, and indulging in long, soothing mud baths — simple pleasures once denied to her. For the first time, she is free to just be an elephant. It is a privilege to provide Grandma SoPa with the opportunity to experience freedom and dignity in the remaining years of her long life.