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 One of our most shy and withdrawn elephants, who has spent almost all of her years at Save Elephant Foundation’s ENP on her own, has finally found the friendship that she has been longing for!!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 with the family herd.

Just like people, elephants have different character traits. Some are outgoing and confident, some are bullies, some are flirtatious, while others are timid, lacking self esteem. These descriptions only skim the surface of the wide variety of ele-personalities residing at ENP. Some elephants, like Lucky and Mae Bua Loy found friendship within days of their arrival to the park.

But this is not always the case.

There are others who wait on the sidelines for months — and in this particular case — years before they find a fellow ele whom they can connect with. We cannot force elephants to be friends and pair up together if they do not feel comfortable with each other. Sometimes, it is a gradual process and can only happen when the elephant is ready.

Mae Kham Sai was rescued back in June of 2005. Soon after, another female arrived named Mae Elu. Mae Kham Sai liked Mae Elu and the pair became friends. Sadly, this friendship was cut short with the rescue of six month old Tong Jaan and her mother Mae Bua Tong. Mae Elu could not resist the gravitational pull of a sweet young calf. She left Kham Sai on the sidelines without a backwards glance to take on the coveted role of auntie. From that point onward, Mae Kham Sai has been mostly on her own.

There have been many elephants rescued over the years. We desperately hoped that the right elephant would arrive whom Kham Sai would feel safe and comfortable with, but sadly this never happened. On many occasions we attempted to introduce her to new elephants, hoping that a friendship would form, but quite often when the other elephant came closer, Mae Kham Sai would run off in the opposite direction. Kham Sai seems drawn to younger elephants, but finds those who are her age or older to be intimidating. In the past, she has shown an interest in being an auntie, loitering near leased mothers and babies soon after their arrival, only to be discouraged when older, more assertive females moved in and took over the position. 

Taking advantage of her timid nature, some of her past mahouts kept her up in the front corner of the park where she would be “safe.” A mahout has a critical effect on an elephant’s confidence level. Kham Sai had been having bad luck with mahouts, not getting the right match for her personality. It is difficult to know what a mahout will be like until we put him on the job. Recently, Kham Sai had a new mahout placed with her. He was told to let Kham Sai out of the front corner and allow her to roam more freely.

Lucky for Mae Kham Sai, her new mahout was just the type of guy that she needed. She felt safe with him, something about him gave her a bit of self confidence. He took her out to areas where she normally did not venture. He did not pull her away from possible social situations. Soon she was being visited by the curious and unabashed Faa Sai, followed by the other young members of the family group. At first, Kham Sai felt a bit overwhelmed. She resisted the urge to run away. In no time, she found that she was enjoying their company immensely. She remembered how much she loved being around playful, inquisitive calves and the long buried nanny in her worked it’s way to the surface.

Mae Kham Sai bonds with Faa Mai and others at ENP

From then on, Kham Sai was hooked.  

Faa Sai urged her on, making her feel welcome. As the days passed, Kham Sai went from being on the sidelines waiting for Faa Sai to come to her, to slowly edging her way to the fringes of the group. This was followed by short play sessions with Chang Yim and Faa Mai. Finally, Kham Sai was joining them on their trips to the river and the dust bath that followed!

We could not believe our eyes … was this really shy Kham Sai, with the FAMILY GROUP??? What an amazing and wonderful development … but … would it last?

The true test was an evening when it was time for everyone to go to their shelters for the night. Kham Sai lingered at the family group shelter, not wanting to leave. Lek suggested that Kham Sai be put in the shelter next to Faa Sai. The night passed without incident and the next morning she left from the shelter not following along behind the group, but as a one of them.

From that point on, things have been going well. Kham Sai adores Faa Sai above all others, but she has really become attached to Dok Ngern and Chang Yim as well. Mae Sri Nuan is being very tolerant and polite with Kham Sai, not intimidating her. Mae Kham Sai is doing her best to not get in Sri Nuan‘s way and is respectful of her role in the group. Mae Thai is not sure what to think, but there have been no altercations as of yet.

Kham Sai is becoming more relaxed and settled in with each day. Watching her behavior, it is evident how much she is enjoying being around Faa Mai and Chang Yim. She reacts like a typical, protective auntie and responds to every vocal outburst with concern. Kham Sai seems quite confident in Mae Bua Tong’s company and hovers close to her in an attempt to help care for Faa Mai. This in itself is a big step for Kham Sai as she has always felt shy around elephants in her age range or older.

We can only imagine how Kham Sai feels right now, as her life has taken a really exciting turn. She has gone from sitting on the sidelines to becoming part of the largest social group in the ENP. Kham Sai seems so happy and content, she appears to be smiling all of the time and seeing her like this, after all these years, makes us smile too.