Crazier than Fiction: the Elephant Rangers of Laos

Four years ago, as monsoon rain streaked down dusty windows, Sebastien Duffilot, the founder of Laos Elephant Conservation Centre (ECC) in Xayaboury, near Luang Prabang, and I sat discussing the possible fate of Laos elephants. We sipped a good French red wine, which encouraged dreaming and fantasies about a land whose tradition was founded on the courage and tenacity of these great beasts, but which now is prey to the cold-eyed attention of poachers.