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Elephant Nature Park’s Shy Kham Sai Finds Family

Elephant Nature Park has been waiting for this moment for a long time.

This is a story we have been longing to post. One of our most shy and withdrawn elephants, who has spent almost all of her years at Save Elephant Foundation’s ENP on her own, has finally found the friendship that she has been longing for!! The elusive Mae Kham Sai has been mentioned from time to time and known as one of our reclusive and seldom seen elephants.

Mae Kham Sai at Elephant Nature Park

Mae Kham Sai with the family herd.

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Elephant Nature Park Halts Rescues, Additional Land Needed

Without more land, there can be no more elephants …

Elephant Nature Park family herd
Ten years ago, when Elephant Nature Park first moved to the Mae Taeng valley the area was virtually undeveloped. From Mae Tamman onward, the road was rutted gravel two track, which made for a challenging drive in the rainy season. The thick forest on either side threatened to engulf the road, giving one the feeling that you were heading well off-the-beaten-path. The final bumpy descent passes a sacred spirit house nestled tight against the rocky mountainside (to honor the spirit of the mountain who has claimed a few lives in the past) followed by a sharp curve and then — voila — it seemed you had reached paradise!

The jungle and mountains opened up to reveal a fertile valley with a river winding, snake-like. From the road there were no signs of habitation anywhere … several extremely large boulders lay clustered and scattered about the landscape. But wait — one of the boulders was moving!  WOW … ELEPHANTS!!!

…and there was Elephant Nature Park … in the beginning.

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Elephant Nature Park’s Navann Enjoys New Nannies

Four-month-old Navann has been having more fun than ever in the past few weeks at Elephant Nature Park.

His evening trips to the mud pit accompanied by mom Sri Prae and auntie Mae Kham Paan have been lasting longer and longer, finally climaxing with the long awaited first trip to the river.

At first we had thought that Sri Prae would not feel safe taking Navann to the river without a few more guardians, so we were not pushing the idea. The plan was to introduce Malai Tong and Jarunee to see if they all could get on without any stress or conflict. While this was still in the works, Mae Kham Paan and Navann decided they were ready, taking the initiative and heading to the river’s edge one fine afternoon after an extended romp in the mud. Once the two of them reached the water, Sri Prae could do nothing but follow.

Navann's herd grows to include Malai Tong and Jarunee as aunties at Elephant Nature Park

Navann’s herd grows to include Malai Tong and Jarunee as aunties (from left – right: Sri Prae, Mae Kham Paan, Navann, Malai Tong, Jarunee)

Navann could not have been more excited! The river was a giant wading pool to him. He could hardly contain himself — rushing around splashing and tumbling down into the water, Mom and Auntie doing their best to keep him inbetween their legs. That first experience was kept short and sweet but from that day forward, playing in the river became part of the routine and something that Navann looked forward to with great anticipation.

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Elephant Nature Park’s Lucky Settles In

Lucky, who arrived to Save Elephant Foundation’s Elephant Nature Park just over one month ago, has settled in so well that it does not even feel like we have a new elephant! Lucky has joined with Mae Bua Loy, Mae Boon Ma and Dani. The trio has accepted Lucky completely and they are mostly inseparable.

Lucky with her new friends, Mae Boon Ma and Mae Bua Loy

Lucky with her new friends, Mae Boon Ma, Mae Bua Loy and Dani (absent)

Lucky was the star attraction of the ‘Lucky Circus’, which was based in Surin but travelled all over Thailand. She went blind due to years of performing under the spotlights. For the last three years she was kept at her owner’s home. Though treated like family, Lucky was not allowed to roam much and was very reliant on people to give her direction.

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Captive Elephants Escape From Nearby Trekking Camp to Elephant Nature Park

Things are changing in the Mae Taeng valley … it is not the quiet, secluded place it used to be. The realities of exploitative elephant tourism are now right next door and visible to us on a daily basis. Slowly but surely the land to the east of us has been bought up, initially being used for agriculture which limited our elephants grazing area.  But, when the new land owners decided to build a restaurant/viewing platform and elephant camp beside us, our hearts sank.

You may ask “Why did we not buy this land well before it could be bought by others?” We did actually try. However, in this area much land for sale does not have a secure deed and buying this land could pose a risk. Also, the owner’s asking price is often twice the fair market value.

As a result, what we call the “back” of the park (where the view was pristine with no signs of human habitation) has now been spoiled by construction in progress and the sad sight of two young elephants on short chains, no access to water, heads bobbing endlessly in an act of infinite boredom. For the last two weeks or so, these poor elephants have been chained for most of the day, one within 10 feet of our property line. Obviously they can see, as well as communicate with our elephants.

Our herd has, of course, been curious about them. Faa Sai, defiantly ignoring the mahouts, has made several attempts to run over to meet the forlorn youngsters, Faa Mai and Chang Yim trundling along behind her. Knowing Faa Sai, she has probably been encouraging them to “break free and join the herd,” urging them to “resist and rebel,” and adding that “trekking is no life for an elephant.”

It was only a matter of time before something happened.

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Elephant Nature Park’s Kwanjai Feeling Her Age

Dear, amazing, determined, resilient Kwanjai. What she has been through, and how well she has done despite it all, is truly incredible.

Kwanjai arrived to Save Elephant Foundation’s Elephant Nature Park in late 2010. When rescued she was already on “her last legs” and we were unsure how long she would be with us.Kwanjai at Elephant Nature Park

Originally called “Lamyai,” her name was changed to Kwanjai when she arrived to the park, in honor of her much deserved retirement and new life. Kwanjai promptly decided that she was not quite ready to give up. You could almost hear her thinking “FINALLY! No trekking seat, no logging harness, no bull hook, no ignorant tourists or mahouts riding on me…I am sticking around to get the most I can out of this place!'” 

And so she did.

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Elephant Nature Park’s Baby Navann Gets Down and Dirty

elephant-nature-park-sri-prae

Elephant Nature Park’s newest mother ‘Mae’ Sri Prae is a bit on the cautious side to say the least! Since Navann’s arrival the pair have spent most of their time in the shelter with the occasional outing at the end of the day. Navann is so curious and over-excited to explore everything and everywhere, he often takes off running ahead of Sri Prae and grandma-auntie Mae Kham Paan. This, of course, causes them to panic and charge after him.

More often than not, Navann is rushing towards other elephants, either with the intention of introducing himself to them or sometimes out of confusion, wanting to take refuge under their bodies —  forgetting that the females who are expecting that kind of behavior are actually BEHIND him!

These situations can lead to chaos and unexpected harm, possibly to Navann. Trying to stop an overexcited, healthy, robust three-month-old bull elephant on a mission is no easy task!
Sri Prae has become accustomed to the boundaries of the chain-free shelter and knows Navann is safe to run as he wishes when in their space, but the outside world is a different story! When released it can sometimes take a while for Sri Prae and Mae Kham Paan to relax and enjoy themselves.

The mud pit has been the destination of choice on the most recent outings.

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Lucky: an elephant rescue in Thailand

On 31 January, our team set off for a whirlwind trip to Surin with one goal: to rescue Lucky, a circus elephant who, after 30 years in the circus, was rendered blind from the spotlights and in need of a place to live the rest of her life without performing for people.

Around 6 p.m. on Thursday, staff and four volunteers loaded into a Save Elephant Foundation van and headed down south to Surin. We drove through the night and early morning, stopping briefly at the Cambodia border to leave some of our staff who were heading to Elephant Sanctuary Cambodia. Then, we continued on towards Surin.

Lucky

We find Lucky behind the house, awaiting her transit to her new home and freedom.

After nearly 20 hours of driving, we arrived to Lucky’s home. We found her behind the house, on a chain, awaiting our arrival. The previous day, another SEF team (including one of our vets), headed down to examine her and prepare her for her journey home to Elephant Nature Park.

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