Elephant Nature Park’s Mae Kham Puan Turns Social
Mae Kham Puan and Tilly have been best friends since about a month after Tilly’s arrival to Save Elephant Foundation’s Elephant Nature Park. To say that this pair is a handful is a bit of an understatement.
Mae Kham Puan is 90 percent blind, which makes Tilly the dominant force in the relationship. Tilly is a bit on the rebellious side and often takes to running away from the mahouts, ignoring their calls to “stop” or “come back.” Obviously, this means that Mae Kham Puan follows Tilly loyally, no matter where she goes.
These ladies mostly stick to themselves, however they also get along pretty well with Mae Boon Ma, Mae Bua Loy and Dani. An occasional visit from Faa Mai or Chang Yim is initially welcomed, but sometimes Tilly can be a bit unpredictable in these situations.
Lately, Mae Kham Puan has been wandering away from Tilly, her curiosity getting the best of her. She recently joined Mae Bua Tong and the younger members of the family group near one of our huge fig trees where the group was clustered eating figs and branches. We were pleasantly surprised by Mae Kham Puan’s decision to join the herd.
On yet another day, Mae Kham Puan was seen enjoying an extended trunk drape with her old partner, Dani, down by the beach hut while Tilly was off on her own. Dani would be welcome to join with Kham Puan and Tilly if she was interested in doing so.
The next morning, again near the skywalk, newcomer Lucky tentatively approached Mae Kham Puan and Tilly to introduce herself. Tilly was a bit hesitant and moved away, but Mae Kham Puan stayed and the two sightless females spent 20 minutes or so entwining trunks, sniffing each other and alternately draping their trunks in a lovely interactive display. Both gals seeming to feel positively about the other.
It is heartening to see some of our elephant’s ‘comfort zone’ broadening, as this ultimately means that they can roam more freely without any worries that they will react negatively towards another elephant. Many of our elephants arrive to Elephant Nature Park a bit ‘socially inept’ from traumatic events that happened in their working lives. Quite often, they may have been attacked by another elephant, or were kept isolated and were unable to develop friendships with other elephants. It can sometimes be overwhelming to the new elephant to experience random social interactions. They often feel defensive or afraid when approached by another elephant. Each elephant’s personality is unique and their confidence develops at their own pace.
Mae Kham Puan just passed her two-year anniversary of arriving to ENP. We are happy to see her feeling more comfortable and settled with each passing day.
