elephants

Elephant Nature Park’s Baby Navann Gets Down and Dirty

elephant-nature-park-sri-prae

Elephant Nature Park’s newest mother ‘Mae’ Sri Prae is a bit on the cautious side to say the least! Since Navann’s arrival the pair have spent most of their time in the shelter with the occasional outing at the end of the day. Navann is so curious and over-excited to explore everything and everywhere, he often takes off running ahead of Sri Prae and grandma-auntie Mae Kham Paan. This, of course, causes them to panic and charge after him.

More often than not, Navann is rushing towards other elephants, either with the intention of introducing himself to them or sometimes out of confusion, wanting to take refuge under their bodies —  forgetting that the females who are expecting that kind of behavior are actually BEHIND him!

These situations can lead to chaos and unexpected harm, possibly to Navann. Trying to stop an overexcited, healthy, robust three-month-old bull elephant on a mission is no easy task!
Sri Prae has become accustomed to the boundaries of the chain-free shelter and knows Navann is safe to run as he wishes when in their space, but the outside world is a different story! When released it can sometimes take a while for Sri Prae and Mae Kham Paan to relax and enjoy themselves.

The mud pit has been the destination of choice on the most recent outings.

Read More

Bike for Elephants Raises Big Baht for SEF and Elephant Nature Park

Bring the Elephant Home’s (BTEH) fourth annual Bike for Elephants event took place on January 19th and 20th and raised 141,000 THB. Nearly 30 participants cycled more than 100km to help raise funds to develop Elephant Nature Park land across the river. Eventually, Elephant Nature Park plans to open this land up for the elephants to roam free.

Elephant Nature Park BTHE

We are extremely grateful to BTEH’s Antoinette, Dtik and their team for their amazing efforts and continued dedication to the Asian elephant in Thailand. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

Read More

Help put an end to street begging elephants

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.

Elephant in Thailand

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.

Read More

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!

Read More

Mae Thai

  Born around 1945 and rescued from Surin province in November 2002, Mae Thai worked in the logging, trekking and street-begging industries of Thailand. She is the grandma auntie to Tong Jaan, Faa Mai and Faa Sai. When Mae Thai…

Read More
← Newer Posts
Back To Top