Skywalk at Elephant Nature Park

We spent Wednesday exploring the Elephant Nature Park, an ethical “hands off” sanctuary for elephants rescued from logging, performing, and giving rides. Founded in 1995, the 400 acre sanctuary offers over a hundred elephants - many of whom bear horrific physical and mental scars - a place to heal. Unlike other sanctuaries, Elephant Nature Park does not allow visitors to feed or bathe the elephants.

We opted for a full day program that featured the Skywalk, which is a walkway that gave us a view of elephants from above. We started the day with a 1.5 hour van ride north of Chiang Mai. We reached the sanctuary at around 9.30am, and soon after we were at the Skywalk.

That day, teenager Kham La and her herd were at the Skywalk. Kham La is unique in that she had never been a working elephant and so she had never been broken. We threw cucumbers at them, and then we went up the Skywalk and watched as they dined on corn stalks. Each elephant had their own mahout (handler), and they had to learn how to interact with their charges using only food and positive reinforcement instead of hooks and chains.

Halfway through, we descended the Skywalk and watched two elephants doing a playful back and forth as each one dragged their food trough towards themselves. We then helped prepare some bananas, corn, and cucumbers before dumping them in the middle of the field for Kham La and her friends. Special accommodations are made for the elephants with injuries who may eat more slowly, and also for the less socialized ones who may want to eat solo.

The Skywalk also crossed a paddock with rescured cows. We watched in amusement as cows and elephants ate together. Apparently, these two species are known to interact because they eat the same food.Read more