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She asked the mahout for the chance to rest the expectant mother but was
told that these elephants are still under agreement with the camp and
she will have to work until the end of the contact. Lek was deeply
troubled with this and tried to find the way out to help this poor
pregnant elephant. Finally she decided to pay the rent for that elephant
and take her away to rest at the Elephant Haven. Barely two weeks after
that she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. He is the first born in the
middle of the jungle thus Lek named him "Jungle boy" Everybody who saw
him found the little creature so adorable. When he made his first
contact with earth he started immediately to walk and was curious at
everything around him.
When he spotted Lek and the volunteers he did not
hesitate to walk over to sniff them and push with his trunk to show that
he is a powerful giant. Jungle boy showed his intelligence the first
hour of his life. Everyone lucky enough to witness his birth on that day
were so amazed at the way his mother took care of her son and they
immediately fell in love with this lovable, clumsy little boy. The
volunteers and Lek spent time to follow and research the birth and how
his mother cared for him since that wonderful day in the jungle. The
time spent with Jungle boy was so beautiful and rewarding. Lek knew that
the baby jungle boy was born to be free and he should not have to work.
Two months later Jungle Boy and his mother had to
return to work at the elephant trekking camp. The day they left Elephant
Haven his mother trumpeted very loud with anger, fear and sadness.
It made all of us heartbroken and we turned
silently and cried. Next day Lek and volunteers went to see Jungle Boy
and his mother at the walking trail. Lek knew Jungle boy will pass this
way as this is a regular elephant trekking route. Soon they see the
little baby criss-crossing between the front legs of his mother. He
would hide under his mother body when he not quite sure of the things
around him. The little boy is so nervous; this of the first day of his
young life outside Elephant Haven. Sometimes he is so shy and
under-confident. He moves back and knocks against the legs of his mother
and was frequently tripping and falling down. His eyes are deep red with
tiredness as this was his natural sleeping time. If he was in the wild
with his mother he would be fast asleep under her ever present
protection and love. His life is now programmed and controlled by
humans.
Jungle boy is now part of an elephant convoy. It contains many baby
elephants following their mothers. He is the youngest of the group . The
baby can have his mothers milk only when the job is done and they take
the tourist back to the next village of jungle platform. Today Jungle
boy and his mother still continue to work as tourist elephant taxi’s.
Little jungle boy learns quickly how to survive in tourist circles. When
he watches the bigger elephants play football for banana rewards, he
picks up the ball to play in imitation of the bigger ones.
| Soon he will be
the age for learning to work and will undergo arduous training. We
hope somehow to be able to gain Jungle Boy and his mothers freedom from this
life of drudgery and return them to Elephant Haven where they can
live again a full life of freedom. |
Jungle boy shortly after he was born |
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