Newest Rescue at Phuket Elephant Santuary

December has been a busy month for the newly opened Phuket Elephant Sanctuary.  Yesterday they welcomed one more elephant to the herd, making that three elephants rescued in one week!  Her name is Ban Yen.

In her 50’s, she is a stunning elephant with beautiful blonde hair on her inner ears.  Her eye has been swollen for sometime, but the vet team has been administering IV fluids for the past couple of days.  She seems very tired but was finally able to move yesterday.

Ban Yen had been living at the same camp for at least 20 years.  Lucky for her, the wife of the family that owned her did not want to sell her into more work but instead retire her to the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary.

Upon arrival to her new home, she was led to the mud and she instantly began covering herself!  From there, she was able to explore the new surroundings a bit before she went to her new shelter.  Her enclosure is located next to Kannika and Madee, she was immediately greeted by trumpets, squeaking, fumbling and a lot of trunk touching.

The three new arrivals, Ban Yen, Dok Gaew, Gaew Ta will require time, patience, space, and peace as they adjust to their new life, learn how to socialize, and heal after years of psychological and physical trauma. However, there is no better place for them to begin their recovery and retirement.

Thank you to Montri Todtane, Louise Rogerson, Russell Withers, Darrick Thomson, Lek Chailert and all of the support both locally and internationally!