Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains Safeguard Rare Dhole and Asian Elephants with Minor Hotels Supporting Groundbreaking Camera-Trap Study

Published on May 7, 2025

A groundbreaking two-month camera-trap survey has confirmed that the endangered dhole (Asiatic wild dog) continues to inhabit the region, and a breeding herd of Asian elephants now finds refuge within the 18,000-hectare forest concession that Minor Hotels has leased and safeguarded since 2014 in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains.

The study, conducted by Wildlife Alliance and funded by the Dhole Conservation Fund, utilized 60 motion-triggered cameras placed in a grid pattern between February and March of this year. The results showed dhole sightings on seven cameras, leading rangers to focus the full array on this hotspot in May for a more detailed investigation into the pack’s size and behaviour.

Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, the dhole’s population is critically low, with fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remaining worldwide. The species has disappeared from much of Cambodia, and reliable national population figures are scarce. While no more than two dholes appeared in any single frame during the survey, the latest images confirm their presence. To further enhance the data, an expanded grid of cameras, now equipped with advanced recognition software, will provide more accurate insights into pack dynamics and habitat utilization.

A groundbreaking two-month camera-trap survey has confirmed that the endangered dhole (Asiatic wild dog) continues to inhabit the region, and a breeding herd of Asian elephants now finds refuge within the 18,000-hectare forest concession that Minor Hotels has leased and safeguarded since 2014 in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains.

The study, conducted by Wildlife Alliance and funded by the Dhole Conservation Fund, utilized 60 motion-triggered cameras placed in a grid pattern between February and March of this year. The results showed dhole sightings on seven cameras, leading rangers to focus the full array on this hotspot in May for a more detailed investigation into the pack’s size and behaviour.

Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, the dhole’s population is critically low, with fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remaining worldwide. The species has disappeared from much of Cambodia, and reliable national population figures are scarce. While no more than two dholes appeared in any single frame during the survey, the latest images confirm their presence. To further enhance the data, an expanded grid of cameras, now equipped with advanced recognition software, will provide more accurate insights into pack dynamics and habitat utilization.

“I’m thrilled to see evidence of young and female elephants using the forest that we have been protecting for over ten years now as a nursery,” said John Roberts, Group Director of Sustainability & Conservation at Minor Hotels. “These results are a direct pay-off for thousands of kilometres patrolled by rangers and every snare they pull. They also remind us we must keep this forest standing and poacher-free for the next sixty years to protect these young animals through adulthood.”

In 2024 alone, camp-supported rangers completed 486 foot, bike and river patrols covering more than 27,000 kilometres and removed 1,175 snares and traps, creating the safe conditions now attracting breeding herds of elephants and sustaining endangered predators like the dhole.

Suwanna Gauntlett, Founder & CEO of Wildlife Alliance, added: “This camera-trap survey proves the presence of newborn elephant calves and dholes and shows what happens when the private sector truly steps up. This land once slated for clear-cutting has been turned into a living sanctuary that now funds rangers, empowers REDD+ community projects and shelters everything from Asiatic wild dogs to one of Cambodia’s last breeding elephant herds. That transformation is exactly what public-private conservation should look like across Southeast Asia.”

Cardamom Tented Camp stands as a key pillar in Minor Hotels’ global conservation initiatives. Alongside efforts in regions like Thailand’s Golden Triangle and Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls Game Reserve, the company is dedicated to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.