Ruby picked us up on Thursday for our day trip to the Elephant Nature Park, a place where elephants are rescued from the most obscene circumstances. Many of the elephants are blind in one eye or are completely without sight thanks to knives and slingshots to the eyes by their Mahout in the logging industry, made illegal in Thailand in 1981. Some elephants have shoddily repaired broken backs from falling down the hillside after being hit by a loose log or humps indented in their spines from the deteriorating wooden basics that elephant trekking companies use.
These are some of the most majestic creatures on the planets. I can attest to that firsthand. There are also some of the saddest stories I have ever heard and witnessed the repercussions of from animal cruelty. Thankfully, 37 of these elephants have found a new home at the Elephant Nature Park where they are free to roam, create families from new friendships and receive so much love/food and attention/food that they are, miraculously, seem happy and adjusted.
Our day was filled with bathing the elephants in the river, having the 2 month old, 500 pound baby ask me for a game of tag (to my chagrin his mama was not interested in this game with humans) and feeding them pumpkins, watermelons and bananas.
Each elephant eats 2,500 pounds of food a day. They each have a special basket prepared for them depending on their age, teeth and digestive situation. They take the food right from your hand with their VERY powerful and gentle trunk before manipulating it around to put in their mouth just right. It is quite amazing. 6 of us could barely keep up with the demand of one elephant!
Each elephant has a Mahout, or caregiver. Because this is a misfit bunch, the elephants are prone to being territorial and will fight each other without supervision. It is obvious that they have a close relationship with their Mahout, which is AMAZING given their previous interactions with humans. They have no reason to trust, but they learn to again through positive reinforcement...and did I mention food?
Each elephant had a different story, each baby being born at the park naturally and all but one adult having come from mishandling in logging, street work trekking. Not every elephant wanted to be touched, but the park knows each creature intimately and does not force them to receive human touch. Many of the elephants loved a good scratch on their thick, wrinkly, sensitive skin, which we were all delighted to provide.
It was absolutely incredible experience. I will always remember these beautiful beasts with a fond heart.
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