Who will really end up being baby elephant Navann’s aunties at Elephant Nature Park? At this moment it is anyone’s guess …
A few weeks ago we would have felt confident in saying that Mae Kham Paan was the recognized Number One Auntie and that Malai Tong and Mae Jarunee were a firm Number Two and Three. Mae Keow was a definite part-timer and recently Dani was even getting lots of quality time with Navann each morning.
Now that baby elephant Navann is out and about all day, every day, things have became much more exciting in the social world here at Elephant Nature Park.
Navann and his growing brigade of aunties give everyone the feeling that there is hope for new relationships. ENP’s Navann is gaining new admirers with each passing day. There is hardly an elephant in the park whose life Navann has not touched in some way or another.
Being a mahout at Elephant Nature Park is quite different than being a mahout elsewhere. We encourage our mahouts to let the elephants do what they want and not intervene unless it is necessary. If they have prior experience working…
April is a month of festivity for us here at Elephant Nature Park. Songkran, the Buddhist new year, followed by Faa Mai’s birthday along with ENP’s 10-year anniversary are cause of great celebration. Thanks to Dok Ngern and the wonders of nature, we now have yet another reason to be filled with happiness and merriment this year — the arrival of Dok Mai.
We do not often advertise the possibly pregnant females who are roaming about the park. Since the gestation period is from 18 to 22 months, the build up of waiting and excitement can drive you crazy. Here at Elephant Nature Park, based on activities witnessed on several occasions, we had a feeling that a few of our females were most likely expecting.
After the birth of Navann in late October, we started to pay much more attention to the bellies, breasts and behavior of our ladies who have been reproductively active in the past two years.
Oh, to be an elephant … to fully understand their conversations and body language. They know exactly what is going on with each other and who will give birth when.
We, on the other hand, can just wait.
This time, they tricked us.
It is hard to imagine anything more amazing than Kham Sai’s acceptance into the family group – but (!) there is yet another exciting social development in the works here at Elephant Nature Park … and it involves Mae Keow.
Many of our followers are quite familiar with Mae Keow. Almost two years ago she lost her best friend of 12 years, Lily. The passing of her dear companion shattered Mae Keow, who has not been the same since. With Lily by her side, Mae Keow was confident, sometimes a bully (known as a tail-biter) and possessive (when she was the adopted auntie of Jungle Boy,) among other things.
After Lily’s passing, Mae Keow appeared to lose her self confidence. She became shy and reclusive. She seemed to lack the social skills to make new friends and had passive/aggressive tendancies. Her only companion was her mahout of 4-plus years, Moses.
Mae Keow withdrew.
She spent most of her time up in the front corner of the park, only coming out to go to the river for bathing time. We were very worried about her, but we understood that her emotional healing had to happen in it’s own time.
A recent change in the elephant shelter arrangement became the first step in helping Mae Keow to reach out socially.
For the last seven years, the first of January brought not only the new year, but also an amazing group of inspirational people – The Power of One!
Led by Americans Juelle and Donovan and their foundation, Blue Star of Hope, the Power of One is a concept dedicated to bringing young people of all cultures, from all corners of the world together to share in a volunteer experience.
Recently, we’ve been overwhelmed with how frequently the word “awww” is heard in the office. Being around so many animals, not a day goes by without us witnessing something cute! Although we don’t always have access to a camera, here are our top shots of capturing cute at Save Elephant Foundation (in no particular order). As you’ll notice, Navann owns quite the monopoly at the moment!
If you want an even better look at these adorable snaps, click on the photos.
We may be biased, but we think he’s the cutest elephant in the world!