A World Leader in Elephant
Health and Welfare Issues
Mission: Elephant Care International safeguards elephants living in captivity and in the wild throughout the globe by providing healthcare and welfare services, educational training, and technical information to elephant care professionals.
Helping Asian Elephants
Elephant Care Asia (ECI) actively supports the care of elephants around the globe through specialized training, veterinary clinics, field-based workshops, and online resources.
Dr. Susan Mikota, ECI co-founder and Director of Veterinary Programs and Research, will join our Everything Elephants program, sharing her vast knowledge and fascinating experience with elephants and the people who care for them. She'll help us see and understand elephants far beyond the limits of ordinary ecotourism programs. Proceeds raised through the Everything Elephants program will support her work in Nepal.
In Nepal, ECI collaborates with the National Trust for Nature Conservation and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). Susan works with government-owned elephants used to patrol the national parks and privately-owned elephants used for tourism. She provides medications, conducts free elephant health camps, and was instrumental in establishing a TB program. Since 2006, Susan has trained and supported Nepali veterinarians, preparing them to lead the next generation of elephant welfare specialists, and has treated more than 25 elephants for tuberculosis.
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As part of her work in Myanmar with long-time colleague Dr. Khyne U. Mar, Susan trains elephant veterinarians, provides technical support, and develops welfare guidelines for Myanmar’s emerging elephant tourism industry. In 2018, Susan was part of the ElephantCARE ASIA team that organized and delivered veterinary care training to 21 veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and managers of elephant rescue centers from Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Nepal.
In Vietnam, Dr. Mikota provided guidance and in-country service to the government’s new Elephant Conservation Center and their rescued elephants as part of the ElephantCARE ASIA Team, Services included veterinary care, environmental enrichment, and elephant management and facility design expertise. Susan and her colleagues were instrumental in saving the lives of two orphaned elephants (Jun and Gold) in 2014 and 2017.
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Susan K. Mikota, DVM
Diplomate American College of Animal Welfare
Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist
Elephant Care International
Director of Veterinary Programs and Research
IUCN / Asian Elephant Specialist Group
Elephant health check up.
Participants in an Elephant Health Camp organized by Elephant Care International.
Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants.
Elephant health check up.
DOUBLE-CLICK on slideshow above to enlarge photos and read captions about ECI and Dr. Mikota.
In Sri Lanka, Susan trained 21 Sri Lankan veterinarians through the 2017 EleVETS Workshop; A Project of Work for Wild Life International. Curated by Susan, the workshop's curriculum covered a wide variety of topics critical to the health and wellbeing of Asia's elephants.
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In India, Dr. Mikota supported and continues to consult with a wildlife veterinarian who performed health examinations and tested 1,000 elephants for tuberculosis.
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For elephant professionals worldwide, Dr. Mikota co-created and maintains an extensive bibliographic database on elephant healthcare and conservation and the first elephant formulary, including a compendium of drugs, medication techniques, compounding pharmacies, etc. All information is freely available online (view resources here).
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Dr. Mikota was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work with Sumatran elephants, and is a member of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group and a Diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare.
She co-edited Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants, the only modern elephant healthcare textbook currently available (and used world-wide), and created and maintains the world’s largest elephant bibliographic database on elephant healthcare.