Ban Lai Na

Lek is 4 feet tall. But she has a giant heart and an even bigger mission. She grew up with elephants in her family since childhood. After seeing the cruelty and abuse behind the scenes of one of the most popular and profitable industries that use elephant labor, logging, her eyes opened. Coming to the elephant sanctuary she created 20 years ago, our eyes opened as well.

We've been here for one week volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park along with about 60 other volunteers of all ages and nationalities (including Russia and France!).

We simply signed up to do chores around the park for a week but we got a whole lot more out of this program than stronger muscles (from unloading many melon trucks that elephants pop like M&Ms!)

Our daily schedule consisted of breakfast at 7, work until lunch, a long lunch, and a few hours of afternoon tasks. Overall, we worked about 4-5 hours a day and got to do many enrichment activities in the evenings. Tasks consisted of scooping elephant poop (it's actually not that stinky!), cleaning the park, cutting corn stalks, and my favorite - elephant food preparation!! That consisted of unloading fruit delivery trucks, sorting and storing the fruit, cleaning off the pesticides (yes, these animals are spoiled...), and rolling rice balls for the old and sick elephants who can't chew well.

We had a great group of volunteers (shout-out to A Team!!) who we'll keep in touch with. But we also made two very special friends this week, Saza and Mae Jan Peng. We fed them their favorite treats, bananas and watermelon, or bathed them in the river, almost daily.

Saza is a 70 year old elephant rescued from a tourist riding and trekking business. Her back wasn't the only thing that suffered. Trekking involves a sad story of neglect and abuse by the "mahout," or trainer. Elephants like Saza are first captured as babies and their mother is killed so she doesn't attack in defense. They are then chained and beaten in a cage for a week until they lose their will to fight humans and they become dead on the inside. Then they can begin a grueling life of obeying a mahout who uses violent hooks, chains, and other techniques to train them that he's their boss. The mahouts have been trained by their fathers to do this for centuries in the northern hill tribes and so they see this as tradition. Tourists pay well to see elephants do tricks, so it's good income.

Mae Jan Peng is around Saza's age. Her name means Full Moon in Thai. She was also bought to the park after a life of logging and giving rides. Elephants have about the same life expectancy as humans; imagine yourself giving countless piggy back rides daily and carrying logs chained to your legs up steep hills, and falling, injuring yourself many times, and breaking your legs in the process, well into your 70s!!! And not having a choice because you'll get beaten if you don't obey.

There are 70 total elephants here who all have similar stories to these two. Their physical injuries can be healed by the veterinarians at the park. But 85% of the elephants come to this sanctuary have mental problems. Those can't be healed.

And this occurs not just in Thailand but all over Asia. Elephants are also used in many Asian ceremonies, for street begging, and circus performances. Ivory from males' tusks has been sought after for centuries, and is still ironically used in religious temples as a symbol of good luck.

Why are we going into this grueling detail about the hidden truth that tourists don't see behind the elephant hand stands at the circus and seemingly harmless treks through the jungle? Because awareness is the only way to change this. If you see any animal, not only elephants, (parrots, monkeys, etc.) being used for tourism in any way, chances are their story is like Saza's and Mae Jan Peng's. Not supporting these industries and raising awareness are the only ways to stand up for tortured animals.

That's why activists and visionaries like Lek are making a difference. She has started many other rescue efforts and continues to inspire us. Read her story:
http://greenglobaltravel.com/2013/08/28/interview-lek-chailert-elephant-whisperer-elephant-nature-park/

They say it takes a village to raise a child. The local village here in northern Chiang Mai has come together to raise the many animals here at the park. What I mean is the mahouts are employed by the park to retrain and care for their elephants using positive reinforcement, not chains. And their wives are employed as cooks, housekeepers, and masseuses to ensure a stable income for the whole family and a smooth operation of this incredible park for day-long tourists and volunteers. And the children of mahouts attend a local private elementary school on scholarships provided by the park. The park has 450 staff members today. And hundreds of volunteers, all staying different lengths of time, taking care of the animals. What an incredible way to bring a community together.

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Ça fait une semaine qu'on habite parmi les éléphants dans un sanctuaire au nord de Chiang Mai. On aide a les nourrir et nettoyer le parc. Un éléphant de 2 tonnes mange 200 kg chaque jour, multiplié par 70 éléphants qui grignotent des paniers de pastèques comme si c'était des paquets de m&m's, on n'est pas trop de 60 volontaires pour aider le staff !

Les volontaires viennent d'un peu partout, y compris de Russie et de France, et on a bien sympathisé en particulier avec notre "Team A" avec qui on va rester en contact. Tous les jours, c'est petit déj à 7h depuis la plateforme d'où on contemple le lever de soleil qui illumine les cascades de nuages entre les collines, ainsi que les éléphants qui sortent de leurs enclos. On travaille ensuite de 8 à 11 et de 13 à 15, avant de profiter de balades et baignades avec les éléphants, massages (quotidiens !), cours de cuisine ou de culture Thai, sans oublier les repas copieux et délicieux.

Le parc a été créé par Lek Chailert, surnommée "la femme qui murmure à l'oreille des éléphants", pour protéger les éléphants d'Asie des abus de l'industrie du deboisage et du tourisme. Avant l'interdiction de couper le bois de teck en 1989, les éléphants étaient utilisés pour charrier des troncs d'arbres sur les pentes des collines. Pour les rendre dociles, les "mahouts" (leurs maîtres) les capturent bébés et tuent leur mère et leur nourrice pour les laisser sans défense. Ils les mettent en cage pour une semaine et brisent toute résistance à l'aide de piques et de chaînes, jusqu'à ce que l'éléphant se plie à leur volonté. Depuis 1989 ils ont reconverti l'usage des éléphants pour le tourisme : spectacles de cirque, mendicité dans les rues de Bangkok, promenade de touristes dans des nacelles. Bien sûr, les éléphants sont capables de tirer un tronc ou de porter une personne sur leur dos, mais imaginez en porter plusieurs, 10h par jour, sans famille et sans nourriture adaptée, pendant 75 ans. C'est le sort des 2000 elephants "domestiques" (il y en a aussi 2000 qui vivent dans les forêts) de Thaïlande. Il y en avait 100000 il y a quelques dizaines d'années, mais les traumatismes et l'abandon de ceux qui ne sont plus rentables on fait que leur population s'est effondrée. D'où l'Éléphant Nature Park pour réhabiliter les rescapés mais surtout éduquer touristes et locaux. Pour en savoir plus :
http://greenglobaltravel.com/2013/08/28/interview-lek-chailert-elephant-whisperer-elephant-nature-park/Read more