The Elephant in the Room

Upon deciding to come to Thailand, there was one thing that was on the very top of my absolute "MUST-DO's", and that was to spend some time with elephants.  Elephants are ubiquitous in Thailand (they're the country's national animal) but unfortunately they've more often been used and abused by humans here rather than revered and protected.  In the days of Alexander the Great, they were used as instruments of war, carrying soldiers into battle.  In the 1930's and 40's, elephants became popular in the logging industry, lifting and carrying fallen trees in areas that modern machinery wasn't able to reach. When logging was banned by the Thai government in 1989, Thai elephants and their mahouts turned to the tourism industry as a means of survival, with elephants often found "begging" on the streets or trekking tourists around the jungle.  The result of all of this abuse has been a significant decline in the amount of elephants left in Thailand, with the number of domesticated elephants down from 100,000 in 1850 to about 2,700 today. Wild elephants have fared no better, with their numbers estimated to be between 2,0000 - 3,000 today.  The tide is turning though, albeit slowly, and more people here are becoming focused on conservation, and protecting the well-being of these amazing animals.  Street begging is now illegal, and all locals and tourists are encouraged to report any incidents they may observe to Thai authorities, or to a local conservation group.  Trekking camps do, unfortunately, still exist throughout the country, and do continue to profit from tourists uneducated about the harsh conditions that exist for the elephants in this sort of environment.  Not only are the elephants frequently overworked and underfed in camps like these, but the actual act of carrying a heavy metal "seat" plus the weight of multiple people on their backs is painful and damaging to the elephant, as well. Despite their size, an elephant's back is actually the most fragile part of its body, and isn't able to comfortably support more weight than one small-ish human being.  I've been surprised at the number of western tourists I've met here that had no idea about this fact.  I've talked more than a few out of doing a trek, in favor of visiting a sanctuary instead. 

Now, that being said, not all sanctuaries in Thailand are created equal.  Some do still offer "rides" (shorter than a trek, but no less painful or abusive), some keep the elephants chained for a majority of the day, some allow the free use of bull-hooks by the mahouts which, while they can be used as a gentle "guide" to help handle the elephant, are more often wielded as weapons.  I was in the market for a sanctuary that was truly dedicated to the health and well-being of the elephants over the financial gain provided by the tourism industry.  In my research, I hit upon three consistently reputable sanctuaries. Near Chiang Mai there was Elephant Nature Park, and Boon Lott Elephant Sanctuary, the former being the much larger organization of the two.  Each park offers day trips as well as programs that allow volunteers to work at the park with the elephants for periods of a week or more.  Unfortunately, these programs often fill up months in advance, and I didn't get my spot locked down quickly enough.  A little further digging led me to my third option: a sanctuary outside Kanchanaburi called Elephant's World.  While much lesser-known than the other two, my research uncovered nothing but glowing reviews from visitors, and a philosophy that I could really get behind: "Where we work for the elephants, and not the elephants for us".  They also had an opening in their Mahout Program, which was a bit different to programs offered by the other two parks.  In the Mahout Program, the volunteer is paired with one elephant and his/her mahout for one to four weeks, to learn about that elephant's daily life, and the relationship between the elephant and his/her Mahout.  It was a chance to spend a week working side-by-side with an elephant, and I jumped at it.

I could probably fill a novel with the experiences I had during that one week, but what I really took away from it all was the beauty of these animals, and how similar to human beings they really are.  Elephants are the only species of mammal other than humans to mourn and bury their dead.  They exhibit characteristics of altruism, compassion, self-awareness, and grief.  They can suffer from PTSD brought on by abusive conditions in the past.  They use tools, solve problems, and appreciate art and music.  They are so close to human beings in so many different ways that I wonder how anyone could consider treating them so poorly. 

I was paired with Aum Pan (Amber) and her mahout, Nato, who has taken very good care of her for the past year.  At 80 years old, Aum Pan is the oldest elephant at the sanctuary, and one look into her beautiful brown eyes is enough to tell you that while she may be old, she's not lost her spirit.  I was the first mahout trainee that Aum Pan ever had, and while she can be stubborn when she wants to be (a forceful "thwack!" of her trunk against the ground means she's had just about enough of you telling her what to do, thank you very much!) by the end of the week she would willingly follow me throughout the park, adhering to my commands to "come here" or "back up" (when she was a little too eager while waiting for her sticky rice balls to be made in the afternoons) sometimes more so than she did with Nato.  We walked together, we bathed in the river together.  She got to know me, and what's more, she came to trust me.  Aum Pan has a bit of a history of being picked on by some of the younger elephants in the sanctuary, and as she's gotten older and her vision has started to decline (she's completely blind in her right eye already) she often becomes nervous when there is a lot of elephant activity going on around her.  My response if she got anxious was to stroke her trunk and gently tell her "it's ok, you're ok", while looking right into her good left eye.  On my last day at the sanctuary, she looked straight back into my eyes and she gently but firmly leaned her trunk into me, as if to acknowledge that she knew what I was doing and to say "thank you". 

Elephants World is a sanctuary that most definitely has its heart in the right place, though there are still some challenges I think they need to overcome to really make it the kind of place they would like it to be.  They are currently raising money to buy more land so that they have more room to plant bana grass and banana trees and melons for the elephants food. This new land would also allow them to create proper places for the elephants to sleep at night, as opposed to being tethered to an area (by a 20 meter long chain, so not super restrictive) outside the actual park.  While I found many of the mahouts to be caring and attentive, some others I observed were less-so, and so I think a better policing system may need to be put in place in the future in that regard.  I didn't witness any incidents of outright abuse or injury (bull-hooks are allowed but only for leading the elephants. If mahouts are caught using them as weapons they are taken away. Nato never used one with Aum Pan.) but I did see a bit more bullying and/or neglect than I would have liked from certain mahouts.  This is where I think the Mahout Program is beneficial, in that it puts an extra set of watchful eyes out in the field to observe the interactions between mahouts and their elephants.  All told, it was a wonderful week that flew by way too fast.  It was harder than I would have thought to say goodbye to Aum Pan, Nato, and the volunteers I had worked with over the week, and even now two days later I still miss my "baby girl" and her one elephant friend at the sanctuary, Tangmo, (AKA the watermelon thief) who I also got to know as the pair would often be together.  It's an experience I'll never forget, and one that I highly recommend to anyone interested in getting up close and personal with these fascinating animals.  And now, the photos:

After lunch mud bath

Waiting for her sticky rice

Follow the leader

Elephant selfie!

Tangmo & Aum Pan: BFFS

Tangmo wants her breakfast

Bath time!

 

Tangmo and the neverending quest for more food

 

Aum Pan: Keepin' it OG