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On Valentine’s Day 2005 she gave birth to her second baby, a girl
named Tong Jan. The calf was to suffer the same fate as most babies of
trekking mothers: long days following their mother, little rest,
insufficient time to suckle and poor nutrition. Mae Bua Tong was in bad
condition, not having sufficient rest and regain strength after having
given birth. Her maternity leave consisted of a few days left alone in
the jungle, and then she was back to work with her newborn trailing
behind.
Olivia Daniel visited the Elephant Nature Park as a volunteer in
April of 2005. She fell in love with the work Lek is doing, and wanted
to help. For Olivia’s approaching 21st birthday she could be given a car
if she wanted, but she chose instead to rescue an elephant. Of course
Lek as always, was willing to assist.
Volunteers had sent reports back to Lek of a very small and weak baby
with its mother, seen wandering the hills near Elephant Haven. Not
receiving adequate care at the trekking camp, Mae Bua Tong’s mahout was
sending her and Tong Jan into the jungle to forage for extra food. He
was concerned about their lacking nutrition.
This mother and daughter duo was an obvious choice for a rescue. Tong
Jan was still in an age of innocence, not yet scarred by harsh training
and abuse. The owner had little regard for these two elephants, as they
were just waiting around to be sold. Lek had little difficulty in
contacting him and asking that they be sold to the Elephant Nature Park.
Olivia made a return trip with her parents to show them the work she
would ask them to support. They too were in accord with Lek’s philosophy
of kind elephant handling and conservation. Lek then put them in touch
with Eleaid, a trusted UK charity, to handle the money for the
transaction. Credit goes out to Eleaid for also contributing capital to
make Mae Bua Tong’s rescue possible.
On July 1st 2005, mother and daughter started their new life at
Elephant Nature Park. Mae Bua Tong quickly made friends at the park, and
a social group has easily formed that centres around her baby
Tong Jan.
Mae Bua Tong now gets more than ample nutrition, and shares
responsibility for raising her calf with friends Somboon,
Thai, and Mae Elu.
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