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YaiBoon’s rescue story

Often we will say that we cannot accept any more animals at ENP, whether small or large, due to the heavy financial burden of sustaining the livelihoods of thousands of animals during this difficult time. It is distressing when we hear of many calls for help but cannot always respond. Space to accommodate all the animals is another very limiting factor in our decision making. We try to choose those who are in urgent need of help.
YaiBoon is quite old and has several health issues. She is also losing sight from her severely inflamed eyes. Her former owner informed us that it was raining all day. Grandma YaiBoon stands in the rain all day and night. We decided to go right away to help and bring her to Elephant Nature Park as soon as possible with the kind support from Dr.Kitty Keerthi Krishnamurthy for helping us to save YaiBoon’s life.
YaiBoon is a 75 year old working elephant. For her entire life, she served humans in one capacity or another. She pulled the logs for decades. She walked on the streets to sell Buddha amulets, hair rings, and talismans to the devout. She worked in the tourist riding camps for many years.
It took 15 hours to drive from her previous work place to the park. On arrival, she immediately scratched her body with the poles of the clinic. It seemed like this is her new and delightful experience. How long since she has been able to do that ? Our vet team scrubbed her body clean of her past. She’s less inclined to scratch at the moment. No longer since that time, she will realize that she has a lot of opportunity to do so whenever she need. Scratching are a basic right of freedom to explore and associate with her own kind. The days ahead are an open door. Thanks to Dr.Kitty Keerthi who help us to safe and help to bring YaiBoon home!
After a week staying at Elephant Nature Park, YaiBoon adjust very well to the new home. She is gentle, friendly and calm. We are observing her eating behavior, she loves watermelon, sweet bananas and lychee but not the hard green leaves because she lost her teeth. Our vet team providing the treatment for her eyes, she looks more healthy than last week before she arrived. We hope soon she can form the relationship with our herd. Please stay tuned to see who will be her friend.

The new life of YaiBoon at her forever home.

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