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Faa Mai Update
Little Faa Mai is growing bigger,
stronger, healthier, more friendly and
more confident every day. She is
learning how to use her trunk, is trying
to mimic everything that mama Mae Bua
Tong does and enjoys dunking her head in
the water tub in an attempt to drink
(much to her mother's distress!). She
does leave the end of her trunk up above
the water as a snorkel though. Lek
bought a blow up kiddy pool for her to
play in, which Faa Mai loved, but Mae
Bua Tong was really distressed by it and
seemed to feel that it was dangerous, so
it was quickly taken away. Mother
elephants can inadvertently hurt their
babies when they feel they are trying to
protect them from some imagined danger.
The best way to keep this from happening
is to make sure that there is never any
reason for the mother to feel stressed
at any time.
Meet Rosa, a Very
Special Park Supporter
Hi! My name is Rosa, and
I am a thirteen-year-old
girl living in Old Town
Alexandria, Virginia.
A few years ago my aunt
came home from a trip to
Thailand where she had
spent a few days at
Elephant Nature Park.
After hearing about her
adventures in the Park,
I really wanted to help
the elephants. I have
always found them to be
very interesting animals
and am amazed by how
social and smart they
are.
For three years I have
been raising money for
Elephant Nature Park. I
call my organization "KHET"
– Kids Helping Elephants
in Thailand.
My most successful
fundraiser took place in
February. I had an idea
to have a fundraiser at
a very good Thai
restaurant in my town.
The owner of the
restaurant, Woody
Tongrugs, was very
enthusiastic about the
idea and generously
agreed to donate half of
the money spent by the
people I invited. I was
amazed by his support
and the support of my
community and how many
people donated money in
addition to the dinner.
I met and received
e-mails from many people
who were sympathetic to
the plight of the
elephants, and I was
able to raise over
$2,400 that evening!
I am now planning my
next fundraiser. I hope
to visit the Park one
day!
Phan, our Tractor
Driver, Passes Away
Past volunteers will
most likely remember our
friendly and helpful
tractor driver, Phan. He
would accompany you on
your morning rounds of
ele poo clean-up, with
tractor and trailer:
once you had finished
bagging the dung and
sweeping the shelters
free of debris, the bags
of dung would be dumped
into the trailer and off
Bpan would go to one of
our many "poo pits."
Phan would always have a
smile on his face and
was always willing to
help out wherever he was
needed. As tractor
driver, he had many
other duties besides
helping volunteers and
he was a hard worker. He
was employed at Elephant
Nature Park for about
one and a half years and
was still working until
only about a week before
he died. He was strong
and determined to keep
going and not show how
much pain and discomfort
he was in. We are very
sorry to lose him. Bpan
was only 42 years old.
Johnny the "Old Man"
Water Buffalo Dies of
Old Age
Lek rescued Johnny from
the slaughterhouse in
1992 and at that time he
was about seven years
old.
Johnny
enjoyed a bit of fame
for a while. He escaped
being slaughtered many
times because he knelt
down and begged for
mercy in front of his
would-be killers and
they couldn't bear to
turn this unique water
buffalo into meat.
Lucky for him, Johnny
was able to live out the
rest of his years
peacefully munching on
grass, lounging around
in mud baths and
procreating as water
buffalos do. The last
year of his life he was
starting to slow down,
and was allowed to roam
free both day and night,
as he didn't even try to
leave the property.
Within a day or two of
Max leaving us, Old Man
Johnny laid down and
died peacefully, leaving
behind a legacy of
offspring. He was
approximately 24 years
old, and lived a nice,
full life for a water
buffalo.
Mintra's and Faa Mai's Familes
Just when it seemed official
that Mintra, Malai Tong and Mae Dta Keow
were a confirmed social group, Malai
Tong decided that it is more important
for her to be the second auntie for Faa
Mai. Now Malai Tong rarely moves away
from the "nursery" area, afraid she
might miss something. Luckily Mintra and
Mae Dta Keow's bond is very strong and
they seem to be fine without their
fickle friend. Aura spends a lot of time
with them as well, and they are always
on the fringes of the large social group
mentioned above. Aura, Tong Daeng, Tong
Jan and Faa Sai all really like Mintra,
and enjoy wrestling with her. Mintra
loves the mud and is always rolling
around in it during and after the rains.
Mae Dta Keow is protective of her
handicapped young friend and during play
sessions is always nearby, ready to
intervene if someone starts roughly
pushing Mintra who is too busy having
fun to realize that she might get hurt!
Once Mae Bua Tong and Faa Mai, along
with Mae Boon and "lil BK" or "BK noi"
as we like to call him (though his
owners have named him Phet Tae, which
means "real diamond') are out of their
shelters all day long, surely, Mae Dta
Keow and Mintra will join Malai Tong as
family members, most likely with Mae
Boon...stay tuned for the next episode!
Kham Minh Emerging From
Musth
Kham Minh is almost out of musth. He has
had no temporin for over a week now and
his GPS (green penis syndrome) has been
drying up as well. He shows no
aggression when people are standing
nearby and his mahout Supon can approach
him and hand feed him, but he is still
stubborn about responding to commands to
lie down. Hopefully within the next few
weeks he will be back to his normal,
compliant self and will be roaming
freely amongst the females, adjusting to
his position as sole adult male, ruling
the roost and having all of the ladies
to himself.
Mae Gaeo and Mae Jarunee
Mae Geao and Mae Jarunee have been seen
hanging around in the same field as Mae
Bua Tong and Faa Mai and aunties Dok
Ngern and Malai Tong. Mae Jarunee was
quite sad after Mae Boonchu and Mae Toh
Koh had left, as she had gotten really
attached to them. Since then she has
been spending more time with Mae Geao
once again and the two have been moving
out of their "safety zone" more and more
lately. Both females are wary of other
elephants and like to keep to
themselves, but enjoy the company of a
mother and baby when they are not in a
large social group. It is only a matter
of time until they notice that sweet
little baby girl on the other side of
the field that they are grazing in.
Mae Dta Keow Finally Fitting in With
Some Permanent Residents
When Mae Boon and Aura left, Mae
Dta Keow was really depressed, with good
reason. Mae Boon and Aura had been at
the Park for over three years, and Mae
Dta Keow finally felt confident that
they wouldn't be leaving. After their
departure, Mae Dta Keow kept to herself
and was visibly distressed. We hoped she
would bond more firmly with some of the
permanent residents, not just withdraw
into herself. A few weeks passed and
thankfully she started feeling out the
potential friendship situations that
were available. It only took a matter of
days and the decision was made. Mae Dta
Keow began to tentatively spend time
with Malai Tong and Mintra. All three
females seemed to enjoy each other's
company. Mae Dta Keow already felt
pretty comfortable with Malai Tong, as
Mae Boon and Aura had liked to spend
time with the Pupia family group, whom
Malai Tong was a part of.
As the days passed the trio's bond
became stronger. It was so wonderful to
watch Mae Dta Keow finally connect with
other elephants who would never have to
leave Elephant Nature Park. Mintra fell
in love with her quickly and enjoys her
older, protective, presence. Both Malai
Tong and Mintra are quite socially
outgoing elephants, so again this puts
Mae Dta Keow in more social situations
than she would normally choose to be in,
but she is doing great and really
enjoying herself.
Nowadays, when Mae Dta
Keow is seen by herself on occasion, it
is obvious that she is happy and
contented, just enjoying a little bit of
"me" time, comfortable in knowing she
can re-enter her social group whenever
she desires. Of course, after Mae Boon
and Aura's return, Mae Dta Keow was a
bit confused and not sure where her
loyalties lay. As it worked out, Mae
Boon and Aura just joined up with Mae
Dta Keow's crew. Mae Thai, Tong Jan and
Faa Sai, who love Mae Boon and Aura, are
usually nearby as well. The young girls
enjoy the company of Tong Daeng and Tong
Tae, so on most days there is a large,
loose social group of elephants
peacefully enjoying each other's
company, the youngsters wrestling and
the mothers and aunties looking on
contentedly, while munching grass.
Dok Ngern: Super-Auntie, "Wanna-Be"
Mother, and All-Around Social Diva
Dok Ngern arrived at Elephant Nature
Park more than three years ago, as a
troubled young elephant who had suffered
a very exploitative childhood. She was
not experienced with normal, healthy,
elephant social interactions. Luckily,
she had the desire and instinct and upon
arrival Dok Ngern became part of a
family group and "big sister auntie" to
another newcomer, one-week-old Pupia,
who came with his mother Mae Toh Koh for
maternity leave.
Dok Ngern learned a lot during this
time, and eventually branched out and
joined the Mae Boon/Aura family group
and became an auntie to Aura as well. As
time passed, Dok Ngern evolved into a
socially confident elephant and auntie
who could move comfortably from one
family group to another. Also during
this time, she entered puberty and the
males became more interested in her…and
she in them. In early October of 2007,
Dok Ngern was mounted by Phu Pa, a
leased male in his mid-twenties, who was
brought here to "broaden the gene pool."
He was quite happy to do his job, and
stayed very busy during his stay at
Elephant Nature Park. After this, she
had "moments of intimacy" with Boon Khum
as well.
As her maternal instincts got stronger,
Dok Ngern focused on refining her auntie
skills in preparation for possible
motherhood. After Pupia left, Dok Ngern
became an auntie to Tong Tae and also to
Tong Kham for a short time. Both young
males suckled from her breast, and you
could see her sense of satisfaction from
this interaction. She had now graduated
from "big sister" auntie to "wanna-be
mom" auntie.
From the time Aura and Mae
Boon had left, until the birth of Faa
Mai, Dok Ngern had been quite the social
butterfly, flitting from group to group,
spending one day with Tong Jan's family,
and the next with Tong Tae's family.
After Mintra's arrival, she also spent
many a morning with Malai Tong, Mintra
and Mae Dta Keow, and the four females
made quite a vocal crew. Then Faa Mai
was born. It didn't take long for Dok
Ngern to catch wind of that. In the
morning, she was led out with all of the
other eles without much incident, but
later, at around 11:30am, she came
running at full speed towards Mae Bua
Tong's enclosure, trumpeting with
excitement all the while. Once she got
to the paddock, she reached in with her
trunk, trying desperately to touch the
baby. Her ears flapped madly and she
bellowed constantly for about five
minutes solid. Mae Bua Tong was
unperturbed. She knew how exciting the
birth of Faa Mai was. Finally, Dok Ngern
could hold back no longer, she started
to climb over the railing. Nothing could
stop her, she had to get in there.
Moments later, she was inside,
contentedly standing next to Mae Bua
Tong, with little Faa Mai nestled snugly
between them, and just like that, Dok
Ngern became the auntie to Faa Mai.
"What about Mae Thai," you may be
thinking, "wouldn't she get first chance
to be auntie to Mae Bua Tong's new
baby?" Don't worry, Thai isn't even
jealous as she has the very important
job of looking after Tong Jan and Faa
Sai. Mae Thai has to keep Tong Jan
distracted so she forgets about nursing
from her mother. Once Faa Mai and Mae
Bua Tong are out roaming with their
family group once again, surely Thai
will have a more active role in looking
after Tong Jan's little sister, in
addition to watching over Tong Jan and
Faa Sai. Dok Ngern will be there as
well, of course!
We are quite confident that soon enough,
Dok Ngern will have her own baby to look
after, with other females vying for the
coveted position of auntie, and with all
of the experience she has gained during
her time here at Elephant Nature Park,
she should make a great mother.
Hope's Family
Mae Perm, Mae Jokia, Mae Somboon and
Hope are all doing well. Hope was
limping for a time, not wanting to bend
his front right wrist. He was initially
injured at his shelter by Mae Jokia, who
Hope tries to engage in early morning
pushing and wrestling matches. Jokia is
not always in the mood for this and gave
him a good kick in the leg. As usual it
is hard to keep Hope from having fun,
pushing, shoving and cavorting with some
of his ele friends, so it has been hard
for him to get better. Just when he was
almost walking normally, he ended up in
a play situation with another elephant
and strained his wrist again. To ensure
healing, Mae Perm and Mae Jokia have
switched spots so that Mae Perm is next
to Hope, and Hope's mahout Gawn is
keeping Hope away from the elephants
that he would be most likely to engage
in play sessions with when he is roaming
around the Park during the day.
Mae Somboon does not seem to be too
interested in Faa Mai, and is spending
more time than ever with Mae Perm and
Mae Jokia. She will join Mae Thai in
looking after Tong Jan and Faa Sai when
Mae Perm and Jokia are at Elephant
Haven, but otherwise she seems to prefer
her two lady friends and Hope.
Breaking News
A last bit of exciting ele-gossip…as
this is being written a mother and
one-year-old baby are in the process of
walking to Elephant Nature Park from Mae
Chaem. We are buying the baby, a little
girl, and her mother is coming to stay
on a leased basis until her calf is old
enough to be weaned. Sadly, the owners
are not interested in selling the mom,
although Lek desperately tried to get
the owners to sell them as a pair. Their
arrival should add lots more excitement
to the ongoing elephant soap opera drama
that is Elephant Nature Park. The next
newsletter will give a full update on
their arrival and how they are settling
in.
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About the Herd
Tong Tae's Family
Tong Tae just celebrated his first
birthday on May 15th. He arrived when he
was approximately 10 days old and has
had a wonderful first year of life here
at Elephant Nature Park. He is
incredibly healthy and robust, full of
confidence, and incredibly playful. He
loves to chase the dogs, which can
create a bit of chaos from time to time,
and cause his protective mother and
aunties a bit of stress as well. Tong
Tae doesn't care! He just wants to have
fun. He spends more and more time
further away from his mom and aunties,
joining in on games with the older
"kids." Tong Tae loves to take part in
wrestling and rolling sessions with big
brother Tong Daeng and Aura and Tong
Jan. Usually Faa Sai is there as well.
His favorite thing to do during these
play sessions is sit on his big
brother's head. Tong Daeng is so good
natured about this, he just lies there
and endures it all.
At this time, Tong Tae only has three
official aunties: Mae Boon Ma, Mae Sri
Nuan and Mae Bua Loy. Malai Tong and Dok
Ngern were at one time included, but
then Mintra came along, and now there
are the two new babies, so these two
ladies are very busy elsewhere at the
moment. It does seem to work out best
for there to only be three aunties for
Tong Tae as one of them has quite a
jealous streak that often gets the best
of her and causes her to act out in ways
that are very un-ladylike to put it
politely. Mae Sri Nuan would prefer to
have Tong Tae and Mae Tong Dee all to
herself and not have to share them at
all, but she is not the only one in love
with this little boy, and she has to
share her auntie role. Most of the time
she gets along just fine with Mae Boon
Ma and Mae Bua Loy, but they are both
wary of her as her mood can change in a
heartbeat, and she may decide to push
one of them out of the way unexpectedly.
She has been exiled from the group on a
few occasions as a result of her
behavior, but the truth is, Tong Tae
really loves her and often seeks her out
when she is taken away, so it never
works to keep her away for long.
It is important for the mahouts of this
family group to always keep their eyes
on the cluster of females, especially
Sri Nuan, to watch for any changes in
body language or other behavior that
might indicate an impending mood swing.
Also, it is good that there are new
babies and young ladies like Mintra to
draw the attention away from Tong Tae,
so there are not too many females
obsessed with nurturing young all
focused on one calf, which can result in
a bit of social tension from time to
time.
There is a large, loose, social group
that hangs out together most of the
time, and this includes the members of
the Tong Tae family, Tong Jan's family
group (which at this time includes Mae
Thai and Faa Sai) and then there is Mae
Dta Keow and Mintra. Aura is usually in
there somewhere as well, and when Dok
Ngern or Malai Tong decide to take a
break from their new auntie job, they
are also included. All of these eles can
hang out together in perfect harmony, as
long as nobody new tries to move in as
Tong Tae's auntie!
Tong Daeng has been spending a bit more
time with his family lately, because
Tong Jan, Aura and Faa Sai have been
hanging around, but before this he had
once again been spending a lot of time
with Mae Lanna and Medo. Tong Daeng
really enjoys these two females and the
attention he receives from them. Many a
morning he can be found with them,
hanging around right up until lunchtime.
Mae Lanna likes to push and shove with
Tong Daeng and even Medo gets into a bit
of a gentle shoving match with the young
bull from time to time. His favorite
thing is fitting snugly right in between
them, feeling the protective shelter of
two females. Tong Daeng doesn't get this
in his normal family group, the baby to
be sheltered and protected is Tong Tae,
hence Tong Daeng's search for females to
hang out with who have no young to care
for!
In the meantime, shy and timid Kham Sai
has also been hanging around the
"nursery" area, and feels comfortable
with both Dok Ngern and Malai Tong. This
same thing happened after Tong Tae
arrived last year as well. Kham Sai
desperately wants to be an auntie and
maybe even part of a family group, so
while the mother and babies spend time
in an area away from the large social
group, she hangs out on the sidelines,
hoping to be accepted. Sadly, once they
move out into the main social area, Kham
Sai is too intimidated to join them.
Lately, Kham Sai had been roaming around
the Park and feeling more confident in
the vicinity of other elephants, so
there is still hope that Kham Sai will
find friendship here at Elephant Nature
Park.
Mae Boon and Aura – the Saga
Continues
Hang on to your tissues elephant lovers!
As you have just finished drying your
tears of sadness after reading about Mae
Boon and Aura's
traumatic departure in a previous
newsletter, now you can dab at tears of
joy over their return to the Park (at
least temporarily).
As mentioned in the past, we have been
trying for years to buy Aura, and her
owners have been very firm with their
answer: NO, not even for any
ridiculous amount of money. Finally the
day came to take Aura and her mother Mae
Boon away. We truly thought that would
be the last day we would see Aura, as
she would be undergoing the phajaan
breaking ceremony, which would nullify
all of the positive reinforcement
training she had undergone here. As Lek
does not approve of this ancient method
of breaking an elephant, it would seem
hypocritical to allow Aura to return to
the Park after the phajaan. It
broke our hearts to think of never
seeing Aura again, but Lek had to be
strong about her feelings in this
matter.
Around the 25th of April, almost two
months after they had left, Lek received
a call from Aura's owners, telling her
that Aura was very ill and had been
taken to Lampang elephant hospital. They
did not want to be honest about what was
wrong with her, but it seems that she
had possibly ingested some pesticides
that were irresponsibly left lying
around where a young elephant could get
into them. Her prognosis went from
pretty good, to not so good, to once
again stable. At this point all we could
think of was how fast we could get her
back here to recover. Aura returned to
Elephant Nature Park at around three
o'clock in the afternoon on April 30th.
She didn't seem to be suffering much
from the after-effects of the supposed
poisoning, but she was obviously
suffering from the after-effects of the
phajaan. We looked at the
formerly feisty and happy young elephant
and were filled with feelings of disgust
and sadness. Aura didn't receive
even one scratch." Hmmpf. Obviously they
were stretching the truth a little bit
on that one. Aura looked sad, depressed,
battered and broken. She has scarring
behind her ears and these horrible
garish eyebrow shaped scars above her
eyes from excessive poking with sharp
instruments, as well as healing stab
wounds on her trunk. There is scarring
around her ankles and around her neck
where she was bound tightly with rope.
The saddest thing was her eyes. She kept
them downcast. They were no longer the
eyes of the Aura we knew. She was a
little bit shy and nervous.
Soon members of our resident herd, her
old friends and adopted family, came
over to welcome her back "home." The
first ones to arrive were Mae Thai, Tong
Jan and Faa Sai. They were so happy to
see her, but it was very interesting to
see the difference in the reactions of
Tong Jan (who has never experienced the
phajaan) and Faa Sai (who has).
Tong Jan was a bit nonchalant and didn't
understand why her friend wasn't her
former, feisty self. She didn't
understand where all of the scars came
from. Faa Sai, on the other hand, knew
exactly what had happened to Aura and
was quite protective and concerned about
her. She touched all of the places where
Aura had wounds, gently and
purposefully. She stayed by her side for
the rest of the day. As she touched and
smelled Aura, you could almost see Faa
Sai remembering her own breaking, which
wasn't that long ago. To see her friend
like this and to be reminded of her own
pain made Faa Sai feel very sad.
Next, Malai Tong, Mae Dta Keow and
Mintra arrived. As they clustered around
Aura protectively, touching and sniffing
her, Aura's story started to come out.
The others rumbled and trumpeted in
anger and consolation as Aura related
her traumatic experiences to them.
Mintra was another who was very
protective and concerned. She was very
vocal throughout the whole interaction.
It seemed that Aura's experience brought
back painful memories for Mintra as
well. A while later, Dok Ngern arrived.
As she approached Aura, all she could do
was emit screaming, roaring
vocalizations continuously as she
touched and sniffed her adopted niece.
It was amazing to watch the behavior of
these elephants. Their awareness of what
had happened to Aura was evident.
Five days later, Mae Boon returned as
well. The best way to describe the
elephant's response to her return was "a
celebration." She has so many friends
here and is so well-loved. They were so
happy to see her again, all clustered
around Mae Boon and vocalized, urinated
and sniffed joyfully.
Lek had initially warned the owners
against taking both Aura and Mae Boon
away, especially because it was thought
that Mae Boon was pregnant. Some time
around early to mid August of 2007 she
had mated with Boon Khum. After not
living at Elephant Nature Park for 2
months, Mae Boon had lost weight.
Because Aura hadn't really been suckling
for some time, her breasts weren't very
large either. The last thing you would
assume by looking at her was that she
was going to have a baby at any time. So
you can imagine our surprise and delight
on the Sunday morning (May 24th) at
approximately 2:30 am, when she gave
birth to a baby boy whose curved spine
is astonishingly similar to the late
Boon Khum's. He was a bit thin, but very
tall – 105 centimeters! Faa Mai isn't
that tall yet, and she's one month old!
She was only 86 centimeters at birth and
in no way seemed small.
At first, Mae Boon had no milk. The
stress of leaving the Park in her last
months of pregnancy, not having the food
she was used to, and her resulting
weight loss: all of these had had a
negative effect. Thankfully her breasts
have started to fill with milk and her
baby is suckling often and seems to be
doing well.
Dok Ngern (the super auntie/mom-to-be)
just doesn't know what to do or where to
go. She still stays with Mae Bua Tong
and Faa Mai at night, but as soon as she
gets out in the morning, she runs right
over to Mae Boon's shelter and reaches
her trunk through to sniff and touch the
little one. Amazingly, she still gets
out and socializes with the others, but
most of her time is spent outside Mae
Boon's shelter, waiting for the moment
when she can go in. Actually Dok Ngern
has broken in two times already, and
Malai Tong has tried to climb over as
well! Lucky that Mintra has Mae Dta Keow
as well, because Malai Tong is getting a
little obsessed about "BK junior" and is
spending a good part of the day hanging
out near Mae Boon's shelter, not out
with Mintra.
Every afternoon, a few lucky volunteers
or guests who have stayed overnight get
the opportunity to enter the shelter
with Lek and spend time with Faa Mai.
One of her favorite things to do is fall
asleep on people's laps. That is,
after she has climbed all over them,
sucked on their shoulders and fully
slimed them! Of course everybody loves
this experience, and some are often
teary-eyed with the overwhelming emotion
that is felt in the presence of such a
special little being as Faa Mai.
Thankfully Mae Bua Tong doesn't feel
that people are dangerous and she is
usually pretty laid-back about the whole
interaction.
Mae Bua Tong and Faa Mai have spent most
of their time inside the shelter that
has been built for them. The main reason
for this is because Tong Jan was still
suckling from her mother on occasion,
even two days before Faa Mai was born.
Until Tong Jan seems to have completely
forgotten about her mother's milk, and
Faa Mai is a bit bigger and stronger, it
is important to keep Tong Jan away from
her mother and new little sister. She
could hurt her little sister by mistake,
if she tried to push Faa Mai out of the
way to get to her mother's breast. A
while back, Tong Jan was missing her
mama so bad that she broke into the
shelter. Once inside, her new younger
sister approached her. Faa Mai was very
curious about this bigger elephant that
had entered the shelter and thought that
she was yet another auntie type whom she
could suckle from, like Dok Ngern. Tong
Jan was equally curious and excited
about little Faa Mai, that is until Faa
Mai tried to suckle from Tong Jan's
young, undeveloped breast! Tong Jan was
definitely not expecting this. It
totally freaked her out, and she
screamed out in surprise, alarming her
protective mother, Mae Bua Tong, who
thought that Faa Mai was in danger.
Before things could get anymore
confusing, Tong Jan was led out of the
shelter and was happy to return to Mae
Thai and Faa Sai.
A few weeks back, Mae Bua Tong decided
that she had had enough of being cooped
up inside the shelter, and she broke out
with Faa Mai in tow. She took off at a
run, and ended up quite a distance out
into a field where there was a big muddy
slick. Mae Bua Tong immediately started
covering herself with mud. It felt so
good and she wanted to enjoy herself,
but she was also nervous about her baby.
If any of the others noticed they were
out and came running over, with all that
female excitement, things could get a
bit crazy. Finally the pair were led
back to the safety of their shelter
without incident. It was obvious though
that Mae Bua Tong wasn't interested in
staying inside all of the time, so the
next day Dok Ngern was brought over and
the three were led out once again. With
a nanny/female bodyguard in tow, things
were a lot safer. Once again they made a
beeline for the mud pit and Faa Mai dove
right in, she absolutely loved it. With
mom and auntie Dok Ngern on either side
protecting her, she rolled, slipped and
slid around. She tried to imitate mom
and auntie by slinging mud on herself
unsuccessfully. For all of them it was a
great time, and the start of a daily
routine. From that day forward, every
morning and each evening the trio spends
about an hour grazing in the field next
to their shelter. Faa Mai loves running
through the lush new grasses that seem
so tall next to her.
Lately, there has been another
experienced auntie hanging out, vying
for time with Faa Mai. Malai Tong, whose
obsession with babies seemed to have
cooled upon the arrival of Mintra, has
started hanging out around the shelter
and even broke in a few times in the
past few days. Yesterday, a very
satisfied-looking Malai Tong was seen
with Mae Bua Tong and Faa Mai during
their afternoon outing. Faa Mai likes
Malai Tong just fine, and even tries to
suckle from her. Dok Ngern doesn't seem
too possessive about her auntie role,
and while Malai Tong was with Faa Mai
and Mae Bua Tong, Dok Ngern was out with
Mintra, Mae Dta Keow, Aura, Tong Jan,
Faa Sai and the rest of her ele family
and friends.
A few days later, Malai Tong even
managed to talk her way into the
shelter, and now spends a good part of
the early afternoon inside, helping
looking after Faa Mai as well as
accompanying them while out eating grass
and slinging mud. Both of the excited
aunties are quite humorous to behold,
they just keep jumping from Mae Bua Tong
to Mae Boon, back and forth, all day
long.
Until Next time.
Thanks for reading. If you would like to
support the park please help with
elephant lunches or medical kits which
are always urgently in need.
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Elephant Medical Kit |
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We use mainly imported medicines and instruments. As you can expect
we use a
lot! One kit treats one elephant
for up to two visits by our health experts and vets. |
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Buy an Elephant Lunch |
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| Elephants eat and eat - up to
200kg of various food per day. Provide a meal for one of our hungry herd. Each order
gives one elephant food and supplements for half a day.
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