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Mae Jan Peng spent the first part of her life as a logging
elephant and even after the ban in 1989.
From the early 1990's until present she has worked as a
trekking elephant. Despite so many years of hard work, Mae Jan Peng somehow still had time to produce six calves. Of her six
offspring, one died because of birth complications, a
daughter named Moh Tee Lee. Mae Jan Peng has three grandchildren
and even has two great-grandchildren.
Mae Jan Peng is no stranger to us originally staying at the
park on a lease back in 2003. Even then she was very thin and
run-down. She should have stayed for at least six months to a
year, but sadly the mahout/owner who had came to stay with her
was impatient to be making money again. He rode Mae Jan Peng out
of the Park one morning after only two or three months, with no
explanation. Lek was very upset as Mae Jan Peng was in no
condition to be working, but since she didn't belong to Elephant
Nature Park, there wasn't much we could do. Lek did her best to
keep track of Mae Jan Peng as the years passed. There was a few
times when Mae Jan Peng had been injured while working and she
ended up in the hospital on two different occasions. Each time
she came out of the hospital she moved to a trekking camp
farther away from Elephant Nature Park. We never saw her again
until her arrival in January of 2010.
This time, when yet another family member contacted Elephant
Nature Park to ask if Mae Jan Peng could officially retire here
at the Park, Lek was skeptical and made them swear that no one
in the family would ever change their mind and try to take her
back to work again. The family is not asking for a lease wage or
expecting Lek to buy her. Apart from being frail with age Mae
Jan Peng is in reasonably good health and with time, lots of
food and a relaxing lifestyle, she should really fill out and
regain lifes vital spark. When this happens, some owners seem to
forget that their elephant is still old and decide that they can
get six months to a year more out of them making money. Mae Jan
Peng has done more than her share of providing for the family
she belongs to. Though they have yet to make an official
reintroduction, Mae Jan Peng has worked with Mae Geao in the
past and also is an old friend of Mae Boon Ma. We are very happy
to be able to make Mae Jan Peng's "golden years" as peaceful as
possible here at Elephant Nature Park.
*Records and official
documentation of elephants of more than 10 years ago are sketchy
at best. The dates we use are our best estimates. |
