Episode Information

Once elephants roamed throughout Asia in vast herds. At the turn of the 20th century there were 300,000 in Thailand alone. But today, seeing an elephant in the wild is a rare. But there is a new force of hope approaching. This is the story of Sompast. He is a mahout, an elephant handler. Sompast believes the fate of the Asian elephant depends entirely upon saving his ancient profession. Like the Asian elephant, the role of the Mahout, their life long partner, is disappearing. Sompast’s greatest fear is that he could be the last mahout. The Last Mahout is a unique portal into the plight of the Asian Elephants; the film explores the tragic collisions of man and beast and speaks plainly about the steps necessary to save this remarkable animal. Elephants are vulnerable to all manner of threats and need large areas of forest in the wild. Habitat loss and fragmentation threatens them throughout their range. As habitat becomes fragmented, elephants come into increasing, often fatal conflict with humans and agriculture.