Page 56 - Phonebox Magazine August 2011

Giant Elephant Expedition
Western Nepal, 12-25 April 2012
Until the 1960's the lowland forest area of Nepal supported a large elephant population. However, mass resettlement and land clearance required to home a rapidly rising human population has had a devastating effect. Nepal’s elephant population is now estimated at between 100-170 wild elephants within an estimated range of only 2,500 km2 of suitable habitat.
Local girl turns explorer
My name is Sarah Lawton, I am a profession science writer, and I am lucky enough to have been invited to join the 2012 Giant Elephant Expedition to the Bardia National Park wild life reserve in Western Nepal on 12-25 April 2012.
New to this kind of exploration, and as a fairly typical working wife and mother of two teenage boys, I believe that my participation in this adventure, and the important contribution it will make towards the conservation of native Nepalese wildlife, would make a fascinating story – irrespective of our success in finding our elusive targets!
On the backs of elephants
Lead by Colonel John Blashford-Snell
OBE DSc(Hon) DEng(hc) FRSGS,
director of the Scientific Exploration Society in London, and Professor
Adrian Lister, Palaeontologist for the Natural History Museum, the
expedition’s aim is to study the wild elephants and catalogue the tiger,
rhino and wildlife in the Bardia reserve. The results will be passed to the
Nepalese Department of National
Parks and Wildlife Conservation.
Trained domestic elephants and their handlers will be used to carry the team into the riverine grasslands and the sal forests seeking the giant wild
elephants descended from the now- deceased, Raja Gaj, an unusual Asian elephant with a pronounced domed head. Discovered by Colonel Blashford-Snell in 1992, this mammoth-like animal is still the largest elephant to have ever been seen in the Indian sub-continent.
Fund raising transparency
I will be covering the costs of my travel to and from Kathmandu and other personal expenses. However, I need to raise a minimum of £2,500 towards the additional costs of the expedition. To help raise these funds, I am also seeking pre- and post-
expedition press coverage that would include the names of those companies that agree to sponsor me.
My credentials
Although I am undertaking this adventure as an individual, I am employed as a scientific copywriter with Kapler Communications Ltd., delivering PR-led marketing and communications for technology, analytical and life science companies.
With thanks Sarah Lawton Olney
56 Phonebox Magazine