To the ellies!

So, having spent most of yesterday focused on the elephants, it makes me want to write more about this park. I’ve mentioned it before, that there are big time supporters of the park, including Bob Barker (yes, that’s right- from the Price is Right!) and Hilary Clinton. The survival of the park depends on donations from the public. They have adopt an elephant programs, feed an elephant donation  packages, a gift shop, and daily tourist groups who help feed the elephants. It takes a huge staff to run this place (I think I mentioned 200 before?).

There are dozens and dozens of elephant trekking camps in Thailand- camps where the mahouts are still using hooks on their elephants, and they are using really uncomfortable seats for riding on the elephants- that sometimes cut the elephants, and certainly, aren’t good for them. Despite an elephant’s size, it is actually quite hard on their back to support the weight of a human in the middle of their back. Sometimes, riding on the neck (directly over the frong legs) is at least better, given that the weight can be directed down to the ground.

So, at the Elephant Nature Park, the elephants each have their own mahout, who guides tham around for the day. Most of these animals have suffered abuses in their past- almost all have been hit repeatedly, some are blind, some have had their feet blown off from a land mine, and there are a couple with broken hips. These animals haven’t lived freely in the wild for a long time (there is one grandma here who is 85 years old, and I’m told there is another even older!). The sanctuary is a wonderfully safe place for these animals- their mahouts get them early in the morning, and there are routines- some go for training with Michelle first thing in the morning (see yesterday’s entry for more on that), while others go to roam the fields. There is a river to swim in, mud baths, sand dunes, and all the food a hungry ellie could desire. The only thing that is missing is actual jungle & mountains, which would be more true to the real habitat of the elephants, but many of these guys would perish in such a setting at this point in their life, given how long they have been in captivity.

So, the training Michelle does is critical to help these elephants lose their fear of humans, sometimes of other elephants, of dogs, and of being hit. She is using positive reinforcement training an long sticks (not to hit the, but to guide and direct them) , and it’s a wonderful thing to see. She trains them to allow her to touch and pinch their ears- she pinches the ear while having the elephant stand still (and feeding it) so that in the event of requiring a needle in the future, the elephant will allow someone to touch his/her ear. It’s marvellous, really!

And as Michelle said yesterday, while everyone here would prefer to see these animals in the wild, it’s not a reality for most of these ellies, so this is a really good alternative. There are busloads of tourists who come and spend a week or even a day with the ellies- they feed them, bathe them, scoop their poop, and watch them in the mudbath. While there’s a part of me who cringes from the tourist part of it, I also understand how critical it is to keep bringing people to the park to allow them this really powerful experience, to see how humanely the animals at the park are treated, and hopefully, to either get donations or return trips from people after having such a positive immersion. This ain’t no African safari trip- it’s a sanctuary where the animals are truly revered, and really well cared for.

Darrick & Lek have acreage in Cambodia (something like 10.000 acres) and the goal is to have elephants living in the wild there on that property. And in yesterday’s entry, there was a short snippit about some land here in Thailand where they hope to release a few elephants. So, whilc most of these elephants won’t live in the wild, they do have plans for some elephants (and other animals, such as tigers and gibbons) to be released in the wild. 

I love that Darrick and Lek are in this setting, and that they have a supportive team around them. It's a lot of hard work, but with quite rewarding moments. 

Look at them, getting all dirty and revelling in it!

So fun to watch them play!