Mae Mai

Mae Mai is a middle-aged female who walks with a limp and looks a bit older than she is. She can be recognized from a deformed back leg from an old injury, and an abscess on her cheek. She was born in 1960 and rescued in January 2005 from a trekking camp near Pai. Her rescue was sponsored by Australian, Roy Fudge.

[Mae Mai is the elephant on the left]

Mae Mai has worked in logging, both illegally and legally, as well as in the trekking industry. Her injured leg comes from her work in logging. She was one of two elephants pulling a log down a hill one day. Mae Mai was in the front. The log somehow became unattached from the elephant behind and slid into her from above with such force that it broke her leg. It was given some time to heal, and then she was put back to work.

Lek found Mae Mai on a Jumbo Express in the Pai area, at a trekking camp where she had been working only about 6 months. She was really suffering and seemed ready to give up. A stab wound 5 inches deep had formed a chronic abscess in her cheek, she was emaciated, and generally in poor health. Lek actually had to tell the owners to feed her more so she would be strong enough to make the 2-hour walk out of the jungle when a group would return to rescue her.

Mae Mai started fattening up as soon as she arrived at the park, with a steady diet of all her favorite foods, especially bananas! At first a loner, she soon formed a strong friendship with a much older girl, Mae Tong Bai. The two were inseparable until the sad loss of her old friend. Mai Mae is a quiet and gentle elephant, who still gets around quite well despite her bad leg. The abscess on her cheek still remains, but thanks to routine treatments from her attentive mahout, it is slowly improving. Mae Mai now enjoys a happy life relaxing at the Elephant Nature Park, never to work again. [related news]