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Malai Tong was born in 1986, and began her working life in the logging
industry. She was rescued and brought to Elephant Nature Park in
December of 2005. While working with illegal logging in Tak province in
2003, Malai Tong fell victim to a landmine. Sadly, this is a fate common
to many elephants in that line of work. As far as land mine victims go,
she is a lucky one, as the front portion of her foot remains and she can
actually bare some weight on it. Her back left leg is noticeably shorter
than the rest, and her foot is horribly disfigured.
After the incident, she was given 8 months to rest before heading
back to work, this time in Bangkok. Malai Tong was sent to beg on the
streets. With the injury and disfigurement, she could make more money
for her new mahout. Street begging is the most hazardous line of work
for elephants, and is illegal in Thailand. During one of the many
crackdowns on this activity, Bangkok police ordered Malai Tong’s mahout
to take her and leave the city. At that time she was moved out to Isaan
province, to beg on the streets there instead.
Lek found Malai Tong at the Surin elephant roundup in Nov 2005. She
was standing in a field, bobbing her head, swinging her trunk, and
swinging her injured leg - all in unison. This sort of repetitive motion
is a sure sign of a disturbed elephant. Lek had not gone to Surin
looking to buy an elephant, but as soon as she saw poor Malai Tong
standing there, swaying like that, her mind was set on a rescue. Funds
for this rescue were secured with thanks to Nancy Mann.
When she arrived at the park, Malai Tong was immediately interested
in the babies and becoming an auntie, but sadly all the auntie jobs were
taken by older and more dominant females. She really wanted to be in a
family group, but didn’t know where to go. Happiness arrived in the form
of a mother and week-old baby who needed maternity leave. Both were thin
and weak. Upon their arrival Malai Tong rushed over to them and began
her job as auntie. Mother and baby were very happy for her help. The
baby immediately fell in love with her and tried suckling from her
breast. Mother Mae Toh Koh seemed to sigh with relief, knowing she could
relax and start to heal with Malai Tong’s help caring for the baby.
Now Malai Tong is part of a bigger family, with 2 more elephants
joining her group, Sri Nuan and
Dok Ngern. It is wonderful to see them
grazing peacefully together. Hopefully one day Malai Tong will take
interest in one of the males and have a baby of her own, with other
females vying for the coveted position of auntie to her baby. [news
of her rescue]
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