Wildlife Alliance Cambodia | photography

Wildlife Alliance is an international NGO that works to preserve species through direct action in the form of land conservation, wildlife breeding and release programs and multi-faceted education and ecotourism platforms.

Photographs were taken at their Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre, Cardamom Mountains Wildlife Release Station and Angkor release sites.

Lucky the Asian Elephant enjoys a dust bath at the elephant compound of Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre

Male Asian Elephant Chhouk waits patiently for food rewards from keepers Houn Sairim and Malivuth Bunthim as his prosthetic foot is cleaned and replaced at the Phnom Tamao Zoological Rescue Centre.
Chhouk was nursed back to health after an illegal snare badly wounded his foot, which needed to be partially aputated. His prosthesis is replaced twice a day one for training purposes and two to ensure the foot is kept clean. It is always a two person operation, with one keeper offering positive reinforcement (usually in the form of watermelon from a local market) while the other removes and then replaces the prosthetic limb.

Wildlife Alliance keeper Houn Sairim replaces Asian Elephant Chhouk's prosthesis during his daily training within the elephant compound at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. As an infant Chhouk was found with a severe wound to his foot, thought to be the work of an illegal snare.

Wildlife Alliance keeper Kosol Keo shares a moment with male Asian Elephant Chhouk before his daily training begins at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre

Here Asian Elephant Chhouk enjoys a good wash while keepers perform their daily clean out of his sleeping and training quarters at the Wildlife Alliance managed Elephant compound of the Phnom Tamao wildlife rescue centre in Cambodia.
Chhouk maintains a 'no food, no love' mentality (as do the other elephants for most of the time), and is rewarded with watermelon and banana treats during training to supplement his one hundred or so kilograms of grasses and sugar cane food each day.

Lucky the Asian Elephant poses elegantly as she strips bark from a root in the ground during her mid-morning walk with keepers at Wildlife Alliance's Phnom Tamao centre, Cambodia.
Lucky was found as an infant and thankfully came into the care of dedicated carer Sitheng, who stayed with her much of the first two years she was at the centre. A few years ago she unfortunately became very unwell and during IV medication she damaged her own ears in frustration. Thankfully these days she is very well and ever so keen to get up to mischief instead of waiting for her prized watermelon brunch.

Guests are able to meet Elephants and other animals on Wildlife Alliance's behind the scenes tour to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre.

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An Eld's deer with fawn rush back to the forest's edge at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. Numerous animals have been released at the dry forest site.

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Many residents of Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre are animals rescued from the pet trade, where they are often mistreated or simply kept by people unprepared to care for them. These Iguanas are natives of Central and South America.

This juvenile Silver Langur being cared for in the nursery at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Cambodia is just beginning to show the signs of its adult colours coming through. Unfortunately many baby animals ended up orphaned due to habitat loss, hunting and the pet trade, but organisations such as Wildlife Alliance continue to make a difference for some of them.

Southern Serrow at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre

Pileated Gibbon at the Wildlife Alliance-managed Angkor release site. Numerous Gibbons have been released close by the temples outside Siem Reap, with young born to several females in the several years since the project began.

Clouded Leopard Popork rests on a branch in his enclosure at Wildlife Alliance managed Phnom Tamao wildlife rescue centre in Cambodia.

Slow Loris are the only primate known to be venomous.
Unfortunately this mostly nocturnal creature often ends up in the pet trade, which it is not at all well suited to. As with some other species, the internet has further allowed a desire to keep these animals to grow.
Wildlife Alliance aims to educate the public about responsible treatment of wildlife and forests in Cambodia. Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre.

Jerrie the female Tiger at play in the tiger compound within Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre

A Smooth-Coated Otter at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre

Painted Stork in its enclosure at the Phnom Tamao centre

A keeper lays food out for the Brush-Tailed Porcupines at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre.

Sambar Deer:
This species has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list since 2008, and is particularly threatened within Cambodia, and so release programs such as those conducted by Wildlife Alliance are of particular importance.
A number of the animals have been released and actually thrive in the forest that surrounds Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre south of Phnom Penh, with this female nonchalantly wading through one of the lakes as guests watched on close by.

Sunda Pangolin trio including species ambassador lucy, her mate and their young feast upon termites at the Wildlife Release Station in the Southern Cardamom rainforest.

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Sun bear high in the trees of Wildlife Alliance Wildlife Release Station in the Cardamom Mountains of Koh Kong Province, Cambodia

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Wildlife Release Station keeper Seoun carries a recently rescued Sunda Pangolin outside of the compound upon its release.

A just-released Sunda Pangolin investigates the forest floor before disappearing into the darkness.

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