Elephant Tourism in Nepal: Historical Perspectives, Current Health and Welfare Challenges, and Future Directions

Author Biography

Dr. Szydlowski's previous research focused on how ecotourism practices impact community-based conservation efforts for rhino and elephant. She spent the last seven years teaching avian and reptile medicine, behavior, anthrozoology, sheltering, and conservation in US colleges. Szydlowski works with community-based conservation efforts focused on endangered species preservation, wildlife health, and sustainable development in Nepal. She continues to study governmental and I/NGO programs which purport to help captive elephants, and how their interactions impact population-level health and individual elephant lives. Her research also focuses on the welfare of endangered elephants and the members of marginalized communities that care for them. She is now working with several elephant owners and interest groups to create lasting, positive welfare changes for elephants in Nepal. Dr. Szydlowski previously served as the board chair for a global conservation fund. She now serves on the advisory board of an elephant-focused NGO. She is active in environmental and humane education projects, one world/one health programs, and biodiversity preservation. When not teaching, she can be found speaking about her work in Nepal, conservation, neurodiversity, anthrozoology, etc. Upcoming projects include a human-elephant conflict mitigation program and a companion animal study with co-researchers from four countries. Michelle co-hosts The Anthrozoology Podcast, which discusses complex species relationships. You can visit her at internationalelephants.org.