Setting in at Elephant Nature Park

Dok Ngern, who just celebrated her two-year anniversary of starting a new life at the Park, is getting more confident and independent lately. She is a member of Pupia's family, in the "big sister auntie" position. She loves her place in the family, but as she gets more comfortable within the herd at the Park, she is spending more time apart from her family group. She really loves Mae Boon and Aura, and even Aura's other auntie Mae Dta Keow, and on many mornings she chooses to leave on the morning walk with the 3 of them, ahead of Pupia and family, sometimes spending the whole time apart from her normal group. She is also on random occasions spending part of the day off with Tong Jan's family.

Of course there is also the new interest in the male species. She has became interested in Max and while he was in musth was often seen visiting him in the mornings. And in early February she abandoned all of her favorite eles to sneak off with Phu Pa for a private morning walk.

Elephant Nature Park is such a unique setting for former captive working elephants to learn to socialize in ways that they were never allowed to in their past life situations. It is wonderful and amazing to watch how they interact and respond to each other.

The three main family groups with babies are separate families, yet so interconnected that any young elephant can move between any of the three family groups and are immediately and unconditionally looked after and protected. There is a loyalty and camaraderie that is displayed when a member of any of these family groups feels threatened, all go running to their aid, offering comfort and moral support.

Mae Dta Keow, who just celebrated her four-year anniversary of living at the Park, is also doing wonderful and is "branching out" in her socializing to a degree. She has became comfortable with Dok Ngern, as mentioned above, as Dok Ngern likes to hang out with Mae Boon's family. For Mae Dta Keow, being an auntie of Aura and a friend of Mae Boon (who is one of the most social and easy-going elephants at the Park) has been good for her as she is put in many more social situations, and now feels comfortable with other members of Pupia's family as well. It is lovely to watch and listen as Mae Dta Keow and Mae Boon seek each other out in the mornings, trumpeting and calling to each other, and upon meeting up rumbling and squeaking with pleasure. They seem more excited about each other than they are about Aura!

Mae Boon Ma has also been spending more time with Mae Boon, so she and Mae Dta Keow have started to feel more comfortable around each other. When Max was in musth, even Mae Dta Keow could be seen finding time in her day to have a moment of her own with the grand old man. She is still not really comfortable with people, but that doesn't matter, as long she has found friendship within her own species.

Young Tong Jan just celebrated her third birthday on February 14th. She had a nice day, enjoying every aspect, from the morning walk, to her lunchtime fruit basket and especially playing in the river and the mud pit wrestling afterward! She enjoys part-time big sister and new arrival Faa Sai, as one more body in the mud pit just makes things that much more fun.

Recently, Tong Jan was feeling a bit rebellious and when seeing Pupia, Faa Sai and Aura leaving for their morning walk, decided she wanted to go too. Before her mom Mae Bua Tong or her mahout Yesu could notice, she was down the embankment, across the water and ambling down the sandy trail to catch up with her buddies. Soon maternal instinct kicked in for her mom and aunties and they went running after her, but alas she had gotten really far ahead! The mahouts for her family group weren't ready to go for a walk as it wasn't their scheduled day, and a bit of chaos followed. In the end the eles won out and Tong Jan's family joined the walk after all, and the three family groups enjoyed the morning browsing together.

Ele Gossip - The Bulls

Max, the "number 2" bull, came out of musth on February 2nd, and made an appearance up at the main hut for feeding time soon thereafter. Now back on his normal routine, he is often in the company of Medo and Thai has recently been taking time away from her family group to hang out with Max as well.

On February 14th, "number 1" bull Boon Khum went into his annual musth period and Khum Minh, (the "number 3" bull) followed a week later. At this time, the smaller tuskless Khum Minh is attracting more female admirers than the handsome and robust BK. During the final days Khum Minh was roaming freely about the Park, he was already attracting a lot of female attention and was seeking the ladies out as well. He usually avoids both Max and BK, but was seen in very close proximity to Max, due to his interest in the group of cows socializing with Max. He didn't act agressive towards Max nor did Max towards Khum Minh. Khum Minh just decided to move along after a quick assessment of the gals, knowing he could meet up with them again later. Now restrained for the duration of his musth period, his main visitor has been Park hussy and tail-biter, Mae Keow. She just can't resist a restrained male in musth and Khum Minh seems to be one of her favorites during this time.

This schedule seems to work out the best for Max, who now can roam anywhere in the Park and can enjoy the company of all the females with no competition whatsoever! There is of course, Phu Pa, but the two seem to have little interaction with each other, and they have two entirely different methods of approach with the females so their individual styles actually compliment each other — Max prefers to snuggle with a little affectionate trunk-draping, where Phu Pa is a bit more direct about things.

Taa Raa and Faa Sai Update

Taa Raa, who arrived in late November, is doing well and has started coming along on the morning walks. She has yet to look like she is gaining any weight, but in due time she will begin to fill out. She is eating well and seems rather comfortable in the presence of the other eles, though she has yet to show any interest in anyone or form any friendships.

In late December Faa Sai had been jumping back and forth between Tong Jan's family and Pupia's family, going on the morning walks first with one family and then the next day with the other, but at the time of this writing, she has firmly appointed herself as Pupia's big sister. So far it doesn't seem that any of the adult females in any of the family groups have fully accepted Faa Sai, but for the time being she is content with the fact that the babies have accepted her. Her favorite times of day are the morning walks, playing in the river with her new friends after lunchtime and of course the mud pit! Sometimes Hope tries to bully her in the mud pit, but she takes it all in stride and just tries to have fun. Sometimes it seems she still can't believe that this is really her new life and she can be a little manic at times, but as every day passes she will continue to adjust to her new life of freedom and play at Elephant Nature Park.

Medo Update

Medo seems to be getting on with life despite the loss of her beloved friend Mae Mai. She is understandably a bit depressed, but she is still eating well and moves around the Park to her favorite areas where she can feel safe and secluded. Lately she has taken to lying down for a bit after lunch, before the afternoon bathtime. The spot where she has chosen to do this is quite interesting. Medo goes to lie down right next to the spot where Mae Mai is buried. Now, whether she is choosing this location because of Mae Mai or if it is because there is a soft sandy bank there, it is not known for sure, but it was quite emotionally suprising to see her there for the first time. Medo usually only stays there for about a half hour or so, as it is out in the middle of the back of the Park. She is out in the open where one would think she would feel quite vulnerable. Maybe somehow she feels in that spot she is protected by the spirit of Mae Mai, in guardian angel form. Either way, her attentive mahout always keeps a watchful eye over her and she always gets up well before the other eles start moving across the field for the noontime river bathing.

We are hoping that sometime in the near future, a friendship might form between Medo and new arrival Taa Raa, but just like with people, you can't force two elephants to become friends, these things take time.

Mae Kham Noi Leaves Elephant Nature Park

Mae Kham Noi (the troubled mother of the short-lived "baby ele") is finally going back to her former life as a trekking elephant. She stayed on for two months after the loss of her infant, getting healthy, taking long walks in the morning, relaxing and eating well. It was never intended by her owner that she would be at the Park long-term, so her mahout didn't really give her the opportunity to make any friends here or get reacquainted with her supposed mother Mae Geow.

She was however, allowed to become very friendly and intimate with the "number 4" bull at the Park, the young and handsome Phu Pa (who is known by many nicknames, one being "the equal-opportunity lover"). After a short time Kham Noi was accompanied by Phu Pa on her morning walks every day. Soon she seemed to develop a bit of an obsession for him, and if he wandered off to visit other females during the walk she would trumpet in distress and go running after him. They spent their afternoons down by the riverside in a secluded area and Phu Pa did what he is best known for.

One afternoon, the two were down by the river and Hope was still up near the mud pit wanting to play some more. It had been a long time since Phu Pa had partaken in any river romps or mud pit action, and it seemed a good idea to let the two playful bulls have some fun together. Phu Pa was brought over and of course Mae Kham Noi was in tow. She couldn't leave Phu Pa alone to play with Hope and followed right into the mud pit. Hope became interested in her and decided a "practice mount" was in order, but Kham Noi would have none of it and had no patience for the young boy. She was led away so the boys could romp, but from where she was taken loud groans and roars of frustration and distress emanated and echoed across the Park until Phu Pa was returned to her side. Never have we experienced at Elephant Nature Park a female elephant so obsessed with an adult male. We hope that when she left, being separated from her new companion was not too hard on her and that she is readjusting as best she can. It is also hoped that if she indeed did get impregnated by Phu Pa that her owners will have learned an important lesson and will be much more aware of her pregnancy. Hopefully they will give her ample time off before she gives birth and that they make sure to actually be with her when her next calf is born so the same tragedy does not repeat itself.

8th Grade Class Fosters Hope and Tong Jan

We just had a visit from an 8th grade class from the International School of Bangkok. The class raised enough money to foster both Hope and Tong Jan!

 They thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the Park and asked a lot of well thought-out questions and really learned a lot. Since the class was so large, they had to be broken up into two groups and come on two consecutive days. The first group didn't get to be photographed with Hope, as he had already went to Elephant Haven, but they were lucky enough to get to meet our founder Lek and have a question-and-answer session with her. The second group arrived earlier in the morning and were put to work making elephant dung mud bricks and helping with food distribution for the eles' daily lunchtime feeding.

It seemed that for all of the students, their favorite activity while at the Park was watching the mud pit "wrestling show" put on by our young eles. The students who came on the first day even got in to the mud pit themselves after the eles got out!

Thanks so much, ISB 8th grade class, for your support and interest in helping these beautiful vanishing giants, the Asian elephant. We hope your interest and concern for these amazing creatures will stay with you into adulthood.

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Elephant Fun — Living in Sanctuary Book release

This month we are excited to be able to offer the much anticipated book, Elephant Fun — Living in Sanctuary. Presented in the book are over 200 photographs taken by Lek at the Park over the past five years. Her photos capture the playful antics of the elephants as well as reveal the complex relationships that exist between them. Copies available here.

Elephant Art Auction

Thank you to all who have helped support the elephants by purchasing works of art over the past few months. We hope this fundraising effort becomes a big success and continues to bring in more much-needed funds to help support the rescued elephants at Elephant Nature Park. Photo of this month's art auction This month's work of art is an acrylic and pencil on watercolor paper, by Millie Young and is titled Sleeping Tong Jan. In this painting, Tong Jan is about one year old, and Millie has captured much of her distinct personality. The painting is unframed and measures 30 cm (11.8 inches) x 30 cm (11.8 inches). As usual, all the proceeds from the auction of this painting go directly towards helping support the Elephant Nature Park herd. The auction has already begun and only runs for 10 days, so visit the Ele Store and place your bid today. Don't delay!

Umpai the Water buffalo update

On January 14th, a truckload of 20 water buffaloes were being transported from Burma into Thailand to be sold to slaughter. One of the buffalo was ready to give birth, and did so some time during the crossing from one country to the other. Upon arriving at the Thai checkpoint, when it was seen that there was 21 buffalo instead of 20, it was decided that the newborn would be sold to a village for 300 baht to become barbeque. Thankfully, one lady in the village could not handle this decision, thinking that the mother was determined that her baby should live, since she pushed her out so soon before her own life would end. This lady decided to buy the baby for 400 baht, and she took the baby to her home and kept it in her bed. She knew of Lek from TV and the newspapers and decided that Lek's sanctuary was the best place for this little baby to grow up and have a good life. The woman contacted Lek and said she would give the baby to Lek if she could come to get it. This sounded like a perfect opportunity for a Jumbo Express, so a group of volunteers set off to retrieve the baby. They were gone for 2 1/2 days and returned on the eve of January 16th with the a very small white baby water buffalo. Lek named her Umpai.

Volunteers began a round-the-clock feeding vigil, but within days a lovely Dutch vet walked into the office and Lek invited her and her partner to come stay at the Park to be the exclusive caretaker of Umpai.

At this time she is doing very well, still dependent on bottles of milk fed to her, but she spends her time wandering along with the other buffaloes, hoping to be included in their herd and be taken in by an auntie. The others don't shun her, but she sticks out like a sore thumb with her whiteness, and she looks more like a cow or even a dog or a sheep from far away and is always easy to spot… even the dogs aren't sure what she is!! Thankfully this little one's life is just beginning instead of ending early, and she has many years ahead living in safety at the Park.

Brown Cow Gives Birth to Beautiful Bambi

On January 27th, another baby arrived into the world of Elephant Nature Park. This one was born on-site by one of our cows (sorry people, sady not yet one of our ELEPHANT cows!), Brown Cow. This is Brown Cow's second baby, the first being Norman, who is now old enough to start trying to create babies himself. This lovely little baby is the same deep rust color of her mother and looks just like a little fawn, hence the name "Bambi." She is doing well, is out and moving around the Park with her mother and the rest of the cow herd… though Burt is often AWOL, as he seems to have wooed many of the females in a neighboring herd, so he is running off to make frequent visits. A few weeks after Bambi's birth, both Burt and Norman were castrated. As a result, Burt has been spending more time inside the Park, but one of his admirers came to seek him out and has not yet noticed that he is "shooting blanks." She is the lovely visitor cow who stayed with us for about a month last year, and so she is back for her annual "vacation" at the Park. She is enjoying her time with Burt and the other cows and hopefully her owner won't notice her missing for a long time to come.

Power of One Visit

 Early January The Power of One is an idea that was created by two wonderful people who have made frequent visits and contributions to the Park, Juelle and Donovan. They had this vision that they could bring together young people from around the world between the ages of 12 and 20, teach them about being global citizens, being open to visiting different cultures and also teaching them about the fragility of our planet and many of the species that live on it. They decided that Elephant Nature Park would be the perfect backdrop for this workshop. What better place for young people to meet, interact and work together while learning about and experiencing elephants at the same time! Right at the beginning of January a group of about 50 people arrived, half being students, half adult mentors. During their week-long stay, they helped with ele-poo scooping, ele-poo brick making, and they performed a multicultural recital/presentation on the last night they were there with elephant and Thai dancing themes. A wonderful time was had by all. We appreciate their visit and continued support of the Park, hoping that some of these unique young individuals will grow up to be champions for elephants and fight for their freedom and survival in the future. Power of one — make a difference!