There are many social groups within our herd of elephants who reside at Elephant Nature Park. For some, we never know what tomorrow will bring, while others have a rather predictable routine. Read on and you will have a glimpse into their complex relationships …
The majority of us are blessed with the gift of sight. We take it for granted, without thinking how very lucky we are.
Imagine for a moment not being able to see, relying only on hearing and touch. Imagine being born blind, therefore not having any mental images stored for descriptive reference.
Imagine traveling to a foreign land, where your native tongue is not spoken and venturing to a place where elephants roam free and you can experience them up close, learning about them through touch.
Would you be afraid? Would you be excited?
For two years in a row we have had a very special group of teenagers from the Korean Art Association for the Blind who travel all the way from Korea to visit Elephant Nature Park, staying two days. They come from the Chungju Seongmo School for the Blind and their tour is titled “Touching an Elephant.” These students are training to be artists and are learning to ‘see by touch’ so that they can create works of art in various mediums.
Their stay at Elephant Nature Park included the group engaging in feeding the elephants, learning about them and having an up-close experience with Lek and Faa Mai.
In our last post about Navann and his ever changing line up of doting aunties, Dao Tong had joined the group much to the dismay of Mae Jarunee, who moved off to the sidelines in an act of protest. Faa Mai, Faa Sai, Tong Jaan, even Mae Bua Tong and Chang Yim had been spending lots of time with Navann, causing Mae Keow and Dani to lose their confidence to approach the irresistible young bull. Malai Tong was quite busy between keeping Mae Jarunee company, checking in with Navann and flitting around like the social butterfly that she is catching up with old friends.
Things have changed yet again since our last update highlighting the Navann auntie situation, the biggest change being that new baby elephant Dok Mai and mum, Dok Ngern, are now also out roaming free all day. As a result of this new development, the junior aunties Faa Mai, Tong Jaan and Faa Sai are much more focused on Dok Mai and rarely wandering over to see Navann.
Dok Mai plays with new aunties Faa Sai, Faa Mai and Tong Jaan
Since the foundation launched its new site and blog encompassing all of Lek’s projects in October 2012, we’ve aimed to provide our supporters not only with the latest news from her projects, but also entertaining and informative stories and photos about the animals we rescue.
Today, we’d like to share with you some of our favorite photos of Lek with you from the past year. These photos show just how amazing Lek and her bond with the animals in her life is.
On 23 May, our new baby elephant, Dok Mai, made her first ever trip to the mud pit with her mom, Dok Ngern. More photos to come soon! Enjoy!
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.
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.
People come to Thailand for many things, but one of the most popular is to see the country’s most revered animal — the Asian elephant.
Sadly, elephants in Thailand are considered livestock and therefore have no rights. Although outlawed in most of the country a few years ago, street begging elephants can still be found.
Among the throngs of people, a baby elephant is found begging for food.
Recently, street begging elephants have been sighted everywhere from the outskirts of Bangkok to the busy streets of Chiang Mai.
The street is no place for an elephant.
Many of the elephants you see on the street have been taken away from their mothers when they are too young to be weened. They work day and night, standing on the side of the road waiting for passersby to purchase food from their owner so they can have a bite to eat. They suffer from hunger, thirst and, often times, injuries from their mahout, life on the street and cars.
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!
Deck 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.