Jobaan rescued - finds a new home

07 Aug 05

Jobaan is a 42 year old female working elephant involved in tourism. Her life has been far from a happy one, having lost three of her calves. Hard work and lack of adequate protection has doomed her infants. She lost her first calf in the early 1990's a few months into her pregnancy. Hard work from transporting heavy tourists was to blame. Hard work and lack of adequate protection has doomed her infants. In 1995 she was pregnant again. The usual pregnancy for an elephant is 22 months and she duely delivered a healthy male calf in 1997. Her baby was kept in a pen where she was on show to tourists. The camp sold food to feed mother and baby. The baby was disturbed by frequently being touched and stroked by visitors who did not know they were causing distress to the youngster. Mother was back at work after one short month with her thirsty baby following her over this hills and rivers. The calf was hungry and weary during these tiresome walks. Her mother, naturally, had no time to look after her treasured offspring.

Jobaan sniffs around the area, perhaps looking for a suitable birth site

Two and a half months later the infant became sick. He was underweight and tiny for his age. This period of a baby elephants life is when they start to eat the faeces of their mother which helps build up immunity to disease. He had no chance and resorted to eating dirt. His health rapidly deteriorated and he was chronically constipated. A vet was called but he soon died. Jobaan was given no time to grieve her beloved youngster and was back at work again. In 2001 she gave birth once again to a female calf. The mahout took here away from work so that she would not be disturbed. Mother and baby were chained on the other side of the river from the camp. Two days after the birth heavy rains came. Villagers heard the trumpeting and screaming of the elephants throughout the night. No one thought to investigate their causes as they sheltered from the downpour.

Jo Baan with Mae Perm, her old friend