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He
kept hitting his head against the side of a narrow cage. His skin
was riddled with parasites and he was in a very
sorry state. We offered milk but he would not
accept it nor any other comforts from our team.
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The next morning the owner of this bedraggled
orphaned baby elephant came to talk and asked us to take care of
this baby as he still needed to drink purchased milk which he
told us his family cannot afford. The cost of looking after the
baby was beyond them. He had liver-worm and parasites infested his blood. These
were the conditions that had killed his mother. He was not given
much chance of survival. We moved him to a new home
and gave him the name "Hope". From the first moment of his arrival
he tried to be friendly with Ging Mai, an orphaned baby elephant,
already under our care, but Ging Mai did not want to know him and
turned away each time Hope approached. |
Lek tried hard to make Hope accept milk from
her, but he knocked against her, pushing attempting to hurt her many
times. He chased the visiting elephant volunteers around the pen
trying to knock them down and tried to kick out or vigorously swing
his trunk at anyone who came close to him. He was nervous the first
three nights and could not sleep at all. He kept everyone else awake
trumpeting over and over throughout the night. The fourth night he
fell into a sleep and Lek used this opportunity to get close,
patting and comforting him. When he would wake up she ran from his
pen. She did this every night until finally Hope accepted her. He
awoke and slowly opened his eyes then silently tiptoed over to see
Lek. She sat beside him and he sat wearily down. He kept laying down
letting her pat him and was soon fast asleep again. Lek knew that he
had accepted her and released him out of the pen early next morning
to walk with him and the volunteers. Hope walked over to join Ging
Mai in the surrounding jungle. He showed lots of things to little
Ging Mai and shared his experiences while he was with his mother.
Ging Mai copied his foot steps and newly learned antics. They enjoy
mud bathing and swimming together and Hope brought real elephant
experiences to teach his younger sheltered friend.
The volunteers were made to work hard all the
time, preparing milk, trekking with them and, at night, putting the
exhausted playmates to bed. They now had 24 hour care as the
volunteers took shifts during the night to answer calls for milk.
Hope always showed to every one how different he was from Ging Mai.
He is so confident and naughty and this contrasts greatly to Ging
Mai’s gentleness and shy demeanour. Hope is continually playful and
likes to smash everything in front of him. Both orphans loved their
time together and never left each others side day or night.
After Hope had been with us for eight months,
his owner came to take him back. He was to be trained for work. Lek
told him that the youngster still needs milk and cannot let him go
back. The more Hope stayed with her the more
she loved him and she really couldn’t let him go back to cruel
training and arduous work. With the help and kind support from Jody
Thomas (USA) and Leonor Gonzo (Australia) Hope won his freedom to
stay with us. These kind volunteers became Hope’s foster parents
after helping to buy his freedom.
After the untimely death of Ging Mai, Hope
stopped drinking and taking food. He was totally devastated and kept
calling out for his young friend. He used his trunk to smell and
looked all over the area for his little brother. Finally we had to
move him to another place. It was just too sad to see this
devastated boy stay in this land surrounded by painful memories and
sadness.
For the safety of the two remaining babies Lek
decided to move Hope and Jabu to another house in a remote location. They became
firm friends and played relentlessly. A few months later he was
moved again and found a permanent home.
Hope today is happy in his new home with his
adoptive mothers at the Elephant Haven. Thanks for all the
volunteers who gave Hope the chance to live and for helping us take
care of him. As his name suggests, he is our Hope and we will see
him grow up as a free elephant and a real king of the jungle.
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