Sauraha elephant keepers hopes cooperative model to revive pandemic-hit safari business

Owners of privately-owned elephants agree to look after the animals together and share the safari income.

It’s been one and a half decades since Narayan Bhattarai has been providing elephant-back rides to tourists in Sauraha—Nepal’s oldest jungle safari destination. His two elephants—Champakali and Ranikali—had been out of work since March when the country stopped issuing visas for foreign tourists and enforced a lockdown to contain the coronavirus spread.