Elephants

29 December, 2010

Elephant Nature Foundation is a non-profit organization

which advocates and acts on behalf

of the rights of Asian elephants in Thailand.

Our mission is to increase awareness about the plight

of the endangered Asian elephant, educate locals on

the humane treatment of their elephants, and provide

sanctuary for rescued elephants at our nature park.

Today was an amazing day. Devin and I woke up around 7, ate pad thai for breakfast and at 8 we were picked up by a van on it's way to an elephant sanctuary. At 11 we fed elephants baskets of fruit and at 2 we helped them bathe in a river. We fed them more fruit at 4, said goodbye to the elephants at 4:30 and after returning to our guest house in Chiang Mai we had pad thai for dinner. Perfect.

Let me back up for a minute...

When Devin and I were in Luang Prabang, Laos - in October - we considered going on an "Eco-Trek/Mahout Training" adventure. There were many companies offering this sort of scenario: You would go off into the jungle, do some trekking, find yourself at an elephant camp, learn how to ride and command the elephants, bathe them, and eventually return to Luang Prabang to conclude your trip. At first I was very excited about doing this, after all, Laos is the Land of A Million Elephants. However, my concern was for the well-being of the elephants - how were they treated? Plus, did we really need to ride on top of one; especially with the big baskets they have to carry around?

With these questions swimming in my head I turned to fellow travelers and the interweb for advice. I asked people who had been throughout SE Asia what they recommended, including suggestions from friends of friends at home. I looked up reviews for the different companies in Luang Prabang, as well as other elephant trips throughout SE Asia. I tried to find information on whether or not the people-baskets the elephants have to carry are heavy or if they hurt? Finally, I searched for "the best elephant experience in Asia" and came across The Elephant Foundation.

What did I find? A woman named Lek who has dedicated her life to rescuing abused domestic elephants and providing them with a place to live their lives in peace, with respect, kindness, love, and lots and lots of fruit. At this sanctuary people have the opportunity to feed, bathe, and watch these large creatures go about their daily business. These elephants free. Not wild, but not in chains.

Sold. We opted out of doing our "elephant thing" in Laos and waited 2 months until today, our "elephant day." It was one of the best days I've had in the past 5 months.

Elephants are amazing from a distance and up close they are like giant majestic lumbering wrinkly people. I know that sounds a bit odd, but when you hear about the relationships they form with each other at the park, how they cry when a friend dies and how they play and get into mischief, and when you look into their eyes, you know you're looking at a being that is really looking back at you.

Each elephant at the sanctuary has his or her own story about how they ended up there, and while many of them are tales of pain and abuse, they also tell of healing, love, and commitment. If you have a chance, please read about some of the rescued elephants - it will give you an idea of what they lived through before Lek brought them to the park.

Above is Medo (Mae Do), one of our favorite elephants. She broke her ankle while working in the logging industry and then broke her hip as the result of an aggressive male elephant.

She is as healed as she will ever be, and although she walks slowly, she walks!

This is Jokia and behind her is her best friend Mae Perm.
Jokia has a terribly sad story involving losing a baby and being blinded by her old Mahout. She was one of the most gentle elephants there and I would have been happy to feed her pumpkin all day.

Devin and I with Lek, which is Thai for "small."

Elephants are the largest vegetarians!
We fed them pumpkin, zucchini, watermelon, and bananas.


Happy to eat watermelon...lots of watermelon!


Nice schnoz Jokia. (Great picture, Devin!)


Bucket bath in the river.

Feeding and bathing the elephants was a fantastic experience, as was sitting back and watching them roll around in dirt and mud after said bath in the river. Also positive was the feeling of the sanctuary itself. The wooden structures for people visiting and working at the park are simple, beautiful and fit in well with the surroundings. There was a sense of calm that I would have loved even without the elephants.

Some things we didn't know about elephants before today:

1. Elephants can live into their 90s!!!

2. Elephants only sleep for about 3-4 hours a night and they lay down.

3. Elephants in the wild spend most of their day eating, and adult elephants eat 300-400 lbs of food per day.

4. An elephant's skin is about an inch thick but surprisingly sensitive to insect bites.

5. Elephants' gestation period is 22 months and babies weigh 200-250 lbs at birth!!

6. Three distinct differences between Asian and African elephants are their head size, forehead shape, and their ears. (Asian elephants have bigger heads, two bumps on their forehead and smaller ears.)

7. Most elephants have 4 teeth.

8. In Asia there are different species of elephants: those with tusks and those without.

9. 100 years ago there were 100,000 wild and domestic elephants in Thailand. Now there are only 5,000.

The End