After 3 weeks of independent travel through South East Asia, our team was excited to begin our first week of volunteering at Elephant Nature Park.
Elephant Nature Park, sometimes called Elephant Heaven, is located in Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand. ENP is a sanctuary for 44 elephants mainly rescued from the logging and tourism industries. Many of them came from extremely abusive situations or suffer from chronic injuries. In Thailand, all elephants are “broken” using a traditional method called Pajaan. During the Pajaan a young elephant is placed inside a small cage and deprived of food and water while being regularly beaten until it submits to human instruction. Traditional elephant training relies entirely on the elephants fearing their handlers too much to disobey them. Elephant Nature Park uses only positive reinforcement training (using food as a reward) with their elephants. They hope to educate the public so that there is more awareness of the abuse elephants undergo in the elephant tourism industry in Thailand and other countries in Asia. ENP also has an Elephant Ambassador Program where people can volunteer to speak out against elephant tourism in their own communities.

 

 
During our time volunteering at ENP we had the great opportunity to shadow the elephant veterinarians here. Many of the rescued elephants have chronic injuries that need to be treated daily. Some of the elephants we helped with had landmine injuries, dislocated hips, broken backs and abscesses galore. After the first morning we were able to clean their wounds, flush them and spray with protectant. By far our favourite elephant is Khun Dej. He is a fiesty little 2 year old rescued from a national park where he was found with his foot caught in a snare trap. He has been living at ENP and he is treated twice a day by the veterinarians here. His bandage is changed twice a day and then covered with a leather waterproof boot so he can go play in the mud and wander through the park with the other elephants. His two friends Saree and Dani wait around patiently every day for his treatment to be finished. It is heartwarming to see them all amble away together afterwards. Every elephant that comes to the park is allowed to integrate into the family group of its choice. Many of the baby elephants have nannies who look after them like their own children.
 

 

Friday was by far our most exciting day at the park. 5 new elephants were rescued and arrived within a few hours of each other! The first elephant to arrive was 70 year old Noi Nah who was from a tourist trekking camp. Lek Chailert (the founder of the park), a documentary film crew, 2 vets and several volunteers accompanied Noi Nah on her 22 hour journey to ENP. When she finally arrived and disembarked from the truck she looked extremely emaciated. The volunteers who had made the journey to bring Noi Nah here told us that at the camp she came from she was constantly chained, and that the other 40 elephants there looked as she did. The owner of the camp contacted Lek because she is too old to work. We learned that Noi Nah’s trainer or “mahout” didn’t feed her or give her water for 7 days if she misbehaved. We also found out that she was still being used to carry tourists on trekking trips up until 2 days before she arrived at ENP. Given her poor body condition, is it hard to imagine her having to travel long distances every day carrying tourists. The other 4 new elephants are two pairs of young elephants and their mothers confiscated from a circus. They physically appear to be in better shape, but the one mother was separated from her calf when it was young and she doesn’t recognize it now.

Currently the elephants are resting comfortably and eating well in their own enclosure in the large animal clinic at the park. Each elephant has been assigned its own personal mahout, who will work to develop a relationship with their assigned elephant. New mahouts are slowly developing a relationship with these new additions to the park. In a few days the park veterinarians will begin testing the elephants for parasites and diseases such as tuberculosis, as well a continuing to monitor their progress. Noi Nah is undergoing an intense nutrition program where she is fed vitamins 7 times a day and given access to grasses all day to help her gain back condition. Noi Nah should hopefully be at an ideal weight in 7 months.
Volunteering with the elephant veterinarians this week has been an amazing experience. Next week we will remain at ENP, volunteering at the cat and dog shelter here. We are excited to see what other adventures and learning opportunities come our way.

– Daniella, Rose, Julie