Asian elephant
The Asian elephant ("Elephas maximus"), also called Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus "Elephas" and is distributed in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India and Nepal in the west to Borneo in the south. Three subspecies are recognised—"E. m. maximus" from Sri Lanka, "E. m. indicus" from mainland Asia and "E. m. sumatranus" from the island of Sumatra. The Asian elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia.
Patara Elephant Farm
Patara Elephant Farm is a health-recovery and reproduction-management farm for elephants. Its focus is on educating the public on elephants and the threats they face. To do this, the farm pairs visitors up with an elephant for a day and assigns them the task of caring for that elephant. As of December 2014, the farm is home to 55 elephants. It is located in the mountains near Hang Dong Valley, 45 minutes south of Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was founded in 2001 by a man named Theerapat "Pat" Trungprakan's and his wife Anocha "Dao" with the goal of preserving the elephant population in Thailand. Theerapat says there is much sacrifice involved, and says he and the other caretakers spend more time with the elephants than with their wives The elephants' caretakers, known as mahouts, are from a nearby Karen village and are paired-up with their own elephant to take care of.