[wpvideo Csu0N4EA] Elephant Nature Park is a sanctuary and rescue center in Northern Thailand, about 40 miles from Chiang Mai. (See travel information at the bottom of this post under Practical Stuff.)
If you read no further, I leave you with this: Don’t ride elephants. Ever.
Thailand is land of the elephants. But I’ve seen the results of their abuse at the Elephant Nature Park, the one place I found that is a genuine sanctuary for them.
Asian Elephants, smaller than their African cousins, are endangered. The 250-acre Elephant Nature Park is home to 65 adults and 5 babies. The adults have been abused in a wide variety of ways: ruining their backs from riding, breaking their legs in a logging accidents and blinding them with circus lights. They also step on land mines.
Females travel in herds. (Sound familiar?) And those at the park will remain there, protected. But male elephants tend to run solo once they’re grown, so are encouraged to reenter the forest. Our guide took a young male called Lucky for an overnight, eating and sleeping with him, to ready him for the wild. He pointed him out to us several times during our visit, when he spoke of their closeness
Eat like pig? Hell no! The park provides the 340-440 pounds of food a day for these big guys, half of which they grow there. We fed them watermelons and squash, watching them crunch through their rinds and toss away those they didn’t like. Their massive trunks are surprisingly agile, able to pick up a single sunflower seed.
The care appears kind, though I assume both staff and elephants would prefer life without tourists. But the trade supports their needs. (It currently costs $250,000 a year to keep the place running.) And we performed innocuous deeds — feeding, observing and cooling elephants in the river with pails of water.
Some run in family packs, while others stick together in twos. Often one of the twosomes has been severely handicapped, and their “best friend,” is always close at hand to be of assistance. We heard their stomachs speak to each other, and were told they had complex emotional lives. Up close they look both sage and dinosaur -like.
At the park, the elephants choose which human cares for them. They often reject the first choice offered. Thai handlers are traditionally brutal. So, it’s especially sweet to see such a large beast with its friend, human or animal.
The hole in the ear of the elephant pictured at the bottom of this post came from a hook used by its original handler. After it arrived at the park, one of staff members put a flower earing in it.
Going
If you are going to visit elephants in Thailand, this is the place to go. All the information is on the website. Read more about -founder Sangduen Lek Chalet and her foundation here.
The Package
I took the least expensive package, which was 2500 baht ($55), a splurge for me. It was a leisurely day, with pick up at the hotel, a documentary on the way there, lots of observation and talk, feeding and washing the elephants, including a large lunch buffet for us. There are many volunteers there, and it looks like a great place to work.
