WHO ARE WE ?
Meet the team working behind the scenes to preserve an otherwise doomed world !
Pierre-Yves lives to the rhythm of his passions and of the thousand ideas coming to his mind daily, while Chenda takes care of the day to day management of their common achievements.
Daughter of a doctor murdered under Pol Pot, Chenda comes from a Phnom Penh family while Pierre-Yves is a former paratrooper who came to Cambodia during the United Nations’ mission in Cambodia to live his dreams of adventure.
They got married in 1997 and opened their first hotel in 1999 in the former residence of the Ratanakiri Governor.
Because he took numerous tourists to the villages where the minorities live, Pierre-Yves has learnt to know the forest as well as the dozen minorities who inhabit it, he then gradually became a would-be doctor, a counsellor and a friend to some of those villages. Ratanakiri is therefore a particular place for the Clais who enjoys an intense relationship with this remote area of Cambodia.
Aïravata is honoured and privileged to benefit from the support of the AGROVET Clinic, Wildlife Alliance and Phnom Tamao Zoo.
Veterinary surgeon Virginie Scanga graciously donates her time and expertise, enabling us to provide optimum medical care for our animals.
Born in 1959 in Stockholm, at 11, Dan started a career entirely devoted to animals:
1970-1975 Assistant shepherd with 600 sheep and border collies
1970-1977 Zookeeper and salesman in 3 aquarium shops
1977-1986 Elephant keeper Stockholm Zoo Skansen
1986-1992 Head elephant keeper Stockholm Zoo Skansen
1992-1995 Teacher for zookeepers’ education
From 1996 Freelance elephant consultant, worked as keeper, trainer and on-hand consultant as well as advisor for zoos, circuses and game lodges in 3 continents.
In 1995 he started an informational website, then in 2006, he began to build up an extensive individual database on captive elephants and scrupulously recorded their location, history and pedigree of the breeding elephants.
This database includes over 15 000 records of dead elephants and 8654 records of captive living elephants, with each of the 2938 location facilities in hundreds of countries on 6 continents!
He holds the unusual record of working with + 93 elephants!
Dan is fluent in English, German, Swedish and other Scandinavian languages.
We are both glad and honoured to call him both our friend and mentor!