Speaker

Brooke Friswold

Conservation Biologist
Bring The Elephant Home

Brooke Friswold is a conservation biologist with a focus on wildlife management, behavioral ecology, and ethical wildlife tourism. She is a Research Scientist and Program Manager at Bring The Elephant Home (BTEH), where she leads innovative conservation initiatives across Africa and Asia. Brooke is a Ph.D. researcher, studying the impact of tourism on wild elephants in Thailand and the impacts of range expansion on wildlife and ecological well-being in fenced reserves in South Africa. She is a Director for WildChoices, an NPC that assists tour operators, agents, and travelers to make informed choices about captive wildlife tourism facilities in South Africa. She is also a nominated member for South Africa’s Wildlife Well-being Forum for welfare management systems. She is currently working on the establishment of an Elephant Rewilding Reserve in South Africa—a visionary initiative by BTEH and the Elephant Reintegration Trust that offers a groundbreaking solution for the reintegration of captive elephants back to the wild, combining rewilding, habitat restoration and a conservation-focused ecotourism model. Her interdisciplinary work bridges conservation science, tourism, and community-based initiatives, with a focus on translating research into practical, scalable solutions.