the elephant debate

it's my second day and i'm ready to work.  we report at 8AM to the meeting point where our chores are posted on the board.  i'm assigned to the elephant kitchen crew this morning.  it's the 'easy' job.  the other chores include cutting corn stalks or bamboo leaves on village farms, mucking the pens [shoveling elephant poo] and cleaning up the park [again, shoveling elephant poo].  when i signed up to be a volunteer i knew exactly what i was getting into and expected that i'd be shoveling elephant poo every day so to get a day in the kitchen was a bonus.

let's talk about the 'easy job'.  we start with moving pumpkins from the shelves to the washing area.   all the fruit/vegetables that the elephants eat need to be washed to remove any chemicals that may have been applied.  we form a line and hand them person to person until they get put into the washing bin.  there are spiders and broken, rotting pumpkins but everyone is in a good mood and we rock the pumpkins into the wash bin pretty quickly.  next, we wash the pumpkins.  the staff will chop them up and put them in the baskets along with bananas and watermelon that will be fed to the elephants off the platform.

 a truck filled with watermelon arrives so after a second line to move pumpkins and wash them we move over to unload the truck.  it's crazy to see how much food is required to feed these elephants.  when i was here before there were about 20 elephants and that number has doubled in just four years.  it takes us about an hour to unload the watermelon truck but our coordinators put on some music and the time goes very quickly.  we finish morning chores by 10AM and have free time until lunch at 11:30 so i hang out with some volunteers on the platform and we watch the day visitors feeding the elephants and work on getting to know the family and social groups of the herd.

each elephant has a story and it's always a very sad story of abuse.  some elephants have spent their time as street beggars.  some were abused and drugged to work in illegal logging business.  others were blinded because they refused to work.  four of the elephants have serious injuries because of land mines.  the thing about land mines is they don't kill the elephants - the mines just blow off part of their foot leaving them unable to work and in need of extensive medical care and rehabilitation.  the tourist and trekking industry has also produced casualties as babies are forced to follow their mothers on treks or are separated too early from their mothers.  another common injury in these elephants is dislocated legs - sometimes from being hit by cars or trucks while being used in the street begging for tourists or as logs have rolled down onto them in logging operations.

the elephants rescued by Lek will live out their lives [elephants in captivity can live 60+ years] at the  park, enjoying the freedom Lek has purchased for them.  by the work she has done to create this elephant sanctuary she has created a spotlight on the treatment of asian elephants.  the debate is getting heated.  one one side is Lek's team who use positive reinforcement and the other side is using traditional training techniques that involve a stick with a hook.  everyone who knows me knows where i come down on this issue.   let me try to explain the debate...

one side support the use of traditional training methods.  so here's the hook used by elephant handlers of domestic elephants exploited by the tourism industry [trekking, elephant riding, street begging and circuses].  it's a crude wooden stick with a metal hook on the end.  it begins with a breaking process called a 'phajaan' or 'crushing'.  here's a link to video of what is involved.  http://phajaan.webs.com/   it's not an easy video to watch.  all the domesticated elephants go through this process to break their spirit.  when you see the elephants with tattered ears at the sanctuary it makes you cry to know the holes in their ears are from repeated torture and poking of the hook.  to see the baby elephants at the park whose 'spirit has not been broken' is pure joy.  they are loving and playful and sometimes naughty but all controllable.

the other side is taking a non exploitative approach like Lek's which is positive reinforcement and a focus on the elephant, not the tourist.  it is not without it challenges.  it requires a lot of love and tons of patience.  more of this on my next post about a very, very smart and highly trained elephant who is acting a bit naughty.  the elephants who are born at the sanctuary never go through the breaking process.

Tubtim is the newest arrival at the park and has just been here for a week.  not a lot of her history is known but she has immediately taken on a nanny/auntie role with one of the baby elephants.

"Since Tubtim arrived at the park and adopted Navann [one of the baby elephants] Lek has followed her every day to observe how she react and over protection of Navann. We are now seeking for her history and family tree and want to find out what happened with all of her babies in the past. Daily to see Tubtim always alert on Navann her eyes keep focus of his movement , it makes Lek want to find out more. Normally most captive elephant when they have baby , the calf will take away from the mother to train and then sell to the other owner when some of them was very young still nurse . We are now still on the work to researching of Tubtim’s background soon when we have all confirm then we will give you more update."

get an update on Tubtime here .... http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/category/elephant-herd/

the Elephant Nature Park

the Elephant Nature Park is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in Northern Thailand where you can visit or volunteer.  they have been involved in dozens of rescues which have created a thriving elephant herd. the park provides a natural environment for elephants, dogs, cats, buffaloes and a few other animals. volunteers and visitors contribute to the healing while learning about elephants.  there are projects in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar and visits can be arranged to any location.  all the revenue from the ads on this site for this month will be donated to the ENP to support their work.

there are many places in SE Asia where you can get up close to elephants.  i've chosen to go to the ENP because of the phenomenal work they do there.  it is 100% funded through private donors and it is the first sanctuary for elephants in Thailand.  i visited in 2010 and always planned to return when i had a week to spend as a volunteer.  i get asked a lot about the favorite places i've visited and since 2010 i've always replied 'Elephant Nature Park'.  

the park van picks me up at my hotel and up until this point i wasn't sure i had been booked correctly. there is another volunteer going a day late and they put us in the van with a few overnight guests.  the volunteer program runs Monday through Sunday but they are quite flexible about people showing up late or leaving early.  they have day trips from Chiang Mai so it's easy to get back and forth to the city if needed.

volunteering in SE Asia comes in a lot of flavors.  there is a bit of an industry around volunteering and research needs to be done in advance to be sure it's a good match.  in general i'm not a fan of paying to do volunteer work but in this case the charge covers food, housing, insurance and volunteer coordinator costs.  there are plenty of organizations that do not charge and some even provide room/board or a stipend to volunteers.


back to the elephants.  on the ride out to the park which is about an hour we watch a safety video because the elephants roam freely on the property and it's important to understand and respect their space.  we arrive at the park in time for the morning feeding.  the elephants are fed twice a day from the platform area.  the first day at the park is an orientation day so there aren't any assigned chores.  after the feeding we get a tour of the health clinic and meet a few elephants before lunch.  

after lunch we watch a short video about the sanctuary then head down to the river for a swim and elephant bath.  in the afternoon we do another elephant walk to meet more of the herd and run into Lek, the founder, down by the river.  we have a short chat and i ask for a photo.  i've only just arrived but already i can see that there has been so much work done in the last four years.   it's blazing hot and after we are back at the main platform we are handed over to the volunteer coordinators.  we get moved into our rooms and they are a little bit scary.  i'm in the original volunteer housing which probably hasn't been updated since it was built.  it's a block of rooms - two beds per room - with a row of shared toilet/showers.  we affectionately refer to this housing as the ghetto.

there's a volunteer meeting before dinner and Q&A with Jodie.  Jodie is from Detroit and has been with the project since 2003.  she is an elephant nerd for sure and because she's a westerner she is the go to person for asking questions about culture, etiquette, etc..  she talks more about safety.  there are elephants here who have hurt and killed humans so it's important to be aware at all times when around them of the potential dangers. 

dinner and a short introduction to Thai culture by the volunteer coordinators.  topics include Thai Royalty [loved and respected - no chance a woman can be monarch], Feet & Head [keep your hands off Thai heads and your feet off the furniture], Wai [appropriate Thai greeting], Clothes [women need to cover their shoulders and knees - men don't need to bother] and lastly a brief tutorial on Thai language.  turns out there are 42 letters in the alphabet, and multiple tones, which means 1] the same word can have a very different meaning based on the tone used and 2] there is a diminishing possibility i will ever learn this language.

that's the end of the first day.  i crawl under the mosquito net and try to sleep but the bed is rock hard and i keep waking up.  still, i am so happy to be here and looking forward to seeing more of the elephants.