Elephant Nature Park

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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Lucky

  Lucky was born in 1985. She was rescued in 2013 from the Surin province. She was the star attraction of the LUCKY CIRCUS since she was 4 years old. In her late teens, she developed an eye infection and was still…

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Malai Tong Makes Shy Kham Sai Smile!

Malai Tong and Kham Sai at Elephant Nature Park

Kham Sai enjoys random moments of companionship.

The elusive Mae Kham Sai … many a visitor pass through Elephant Nature Park never seeing or hearing about her. Kham Sai is one of the little known and seldom seen herd members. She doesn’t feel comfortable at the platform or in any of the other areas where many of the elephants tend to congregate. She has been with us for nine years, but has never really bonded with any of the other elephants. In addition, she is shy and unpredictable with people.

Before arriving to ENP, Kham Sai had numerous bad experiences with both people and elephants, causing her to lose her trust in both species. Kham Sai is content to stay on the sidelines and not interact. We respect how she feels and do not want to force her to join in activities that may cause her stress.

There is ONE special adult elephant in the park whom Kham Sai feels comfortable with. It may come as no surprise that this elephant is none other than marvelous Malai Tong. Unfortunately, Malai Tong has already dedicated herself to Jarunee, who is blind and also a bit nervous around other elephants, so the chances of the duo becoming a trio are quite slim.

But, Malai Tong being the intuitive gal that she is, recognises those in need of some company. As of late, there have been a few occasions where Malai Tong has left Jarunee to spend some time with shy Kham Sai. To bear witness to these precious moments is nothing short of priceless as Kham Sai comes alive with pleasure. You can actually see the smile on her face as she touches and caresses Malai Tong who responds in the same fashion. If they happen to be near a mud hole they will share a mud bath and Kham Sai fully relaxed, happily slinging mud to her heart’s content!

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The BEST Christmas Gifts

Family group at Elephant Nature Park with Ball

There is never a dull moment at Elephant Nature Park, and Christmas Day was no exception!

On their way back from the river, Faa Mai and Chang Yim’s family group was given a Christmas present in the form of a big multi colored blow up beach ball, thanks to Hinesh from the UK. To us humans it seemed a thing that might be fun to kick around, but to the elephants it appeared to be a UFO and had an air of danger to it. The herd approached cautiously, then shied away. When it was thrown or kicked in their direction in an attempt to encourage play, the whole group swirled and trunk thumped, vocalizing their disdain for the alien intruder.

At first, they tried to pretend that the ball was not there. Finally Tong Jaan in valiant act of bravery, took matters into her own trunk, strode forward purposefully to where the orb was and in a rather swift movement pulled the ball to her and deflated it with her front foot. Mission accomplished!!! The family was saved from the invasion!!! Satisfied, off they went to bed.

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Merry Christmas from all at ENP / Save Elephant Foundation!!!!

Festive mahout in Santa hat with Mintra at Elephant Nature ParkDeck the hills with banana balls, bundles of cornstalks and trumpets of joy! It’s Christmas day and all is well at Elephant Nature Park. Here are a few highlights from this morning’s action with the herd:

Tong Suk (Jungle Boy) is bringing in the holiday season with a bout of moda musth and sporting slight temporin for the past few days. But never fear, his condition has not yet affected his temper. He is still on the ‘nice list’ cooperating well with his mahout, politely backing up to have his food delivered, even laying down when asked so that his collar could be removed. Thanks to the ever friendly Sao Yai, Tong Suk is rarely lonely and enjoys her company greatly.

Sao Yai is the perfect pal to have around, fitting into the ‘friend with benefits’ category. Mintra has been visiting Tong Suk more often lately and, as they had a mutual crush for a while after Mintra arrived, ‘JB’ is always happy to have her companionship.

Fatty Faa Mai is often quite flirty with our handsome tusker, lingering in his area, before and after the rest of her family has arrived or passed through. She is much too young to be so flirtatious, but it seems that she cannot resist. Besides the flirting, Faa Mai is definitely ‘nice list’ material.

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Mae Tee Finds Friendship in a Former Foe??

Hope and Mae Tee Since losing her best friend and constant companion, Mae Tee has spent the majority of time on her own, which is something that she is not used to. For the first week after Mae Kham Geao’s passing, Mae Tee seemed to be in a deep depression and we feared that she might just give up. But as time passed, she appeared to put her sorrow aside and accept her circumstances, deciding that she still had the will to keep going.

Most recently, Mae Tee has taken us all by surprise and seemed to align herself with a very unlikely cohort —our 12 1/2 year old bull HOPE!!!! In the past, Mae Kham Geao and Mae Tee were nothing short of terrified when Hope passed by, his spirit and energy a bit too much for them. Whenever Hope’s silhouette graced the horizon, getting larger with each onward stride, Mae Tee would often tremble in fear, unsure if she had the mobility to move out of his way in time.

At first this possibly ‘dangerous’ liaison seemed to be just a coincidence. Mae Tee and Mae Kham Geao used to spend part of their mornings near to Hope’s shelter and so it seemed that Mae Tee was just in the habit of going to this area. Soon though, despite it obviously being Hope’s territory, Mae Tee was often seen under his shelter scratching on the posts. Of course Hope was not actually present during this time and upon his eminent arrival, Mae Tee shuffled out of the area as quickly as she could. What we noticed is that she did not choose to move completely away and sometimes stayed where it would be possible for him to reach her.

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Remembering Mae Kham Geao

Mae Kham Geao at Elephant Nature ParkOctober 2nd four years ago, was Mae Kham Geao’s first day at ENP. She arrived in the afternoon and was tired from the stress of the transport. She did not have any fresh wounds but was a bit on the thin side. Her demeanor was slow and lethargic. Mae Kham Geao moved in slow motion and for the first two days she did not even flap her ears. We wondered about this girl, who was not very old but had so little energy. She could barely lift her feet to take a step. On her first morning, she was led out to the river to take a drink and from there she could go where she pleased. ‘This is a new concept’ she must have thought, chain-free for the first time in maybe forever….

In no time a welcome party arrived. First on the scene was Mae Boon, mother of Aura. Mae Boon is an amazing elephant and gets along with most anyone. She is the perfect ice-breaker. Whether these two ladies knew each other from a past working engagement and were happy to see each other, or were just meeting for the first time is not known for sure. For over an hour the pair stood head to head, trunks entwined or alternately trunk draping, locked in a pachyderm embrace. The second elephant to come investigate the new arrival was Hope. Interesting interactions again commenced. At one point the trio stood in a tight triangle, the ends of their trunks all touching.

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