Elephant Nature Park

" Dedicated to the preservation and future of the elephant"

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Take a walk around any tourist area in Thailand and chances are you'll see a multitude of crafted elephants from wood carvings to metal reliefs, from elaborate paintings to royal regalia. Elephants are not only Thailand's pride and joy but a national symbol, representing victory in battle, strength, stability and intelligence.

Some of the elephants, however, are not so full of joy themselves. Although their numbers have decreased dramatically, extinction is a less immediate problem than exploitation.

Hope is at hand in the shape of Mrs Sangduen (Lek) Chailert, who has created a nature park in a lush green area 48 kilometres north of Chiang Mai, where tired, overworked and neglected elephants can live out their days in peace and dignity. Visitors are welcome at the park to learn about elephant ways.

We arrive at the camp in the morning and are immediately taken to see some of Chailert's friends. "This is Mai," she says, caressing the wrinkled trunk of an old-looking female. "She's 49 and has a young baby. She has so little milk the baby is undernourished and we have to give it supplements."

Mai has been bought from an owner who couldn't afford to keep her. A pregnant elephant cannot be worked for a long time after the baby, is born. Normally so few people would want to buy an elephant so old and the creature would perish. That's where Chailert comes in. To date she has rescued over 20 elephants from an unsavoury end.

"I want people to see elephants not as money-making machines and exotic rides but as dignified creatures who deserve our respect,' says Chailert.

We are introduced to another old elephant with a large tumour on his underbelly. The tumour is benign, Chailert assures us. but it prevented the creature from working, so he was of no further monetary use to his owner.

Chailert and her team purchase sick elephants, endangered elephants, ill-treated elephants, elephants walking Bangkok streets, elephants in the Chiang Mai night bazaar. This can be expensive; a working elephant is worth up to 200,000 baht ($10,000).

"An elephant was giving rides in the night bazaar,' Chailert recalls. "I invited the mahout (elephant-driver) to come and stay at my park and said I would -take care of him and his family and give a very reasonable wage. He refused because he said he could get 6000 baht a day ($300) at present and I could not match that."

At present there are no laws concerning the treatment of elephants by their owners. Many suffer as a result of ignorance, abuse, overwork and malnourishment.

"Few people know the truth about the elephant situation" says Chailert. "There is a baby elephant at Lampang hospital with a twisted foot. He stood on a nail two years ago and it is still infected. The owner could not afford the price of proper physiotherapy and the animal has developed a strange twist in the affected leg.

"One pregnant elephant at a camp kept on working. She was carrying a log in the show when she went into labour. The baby didn't survive. The next day the mother was working as usual."

Elephants are believed to have emotions like humans. They get sad, angry, tired and have their own special rituals. 1 have heard that they can tell the difference between the graveyard of their own ancestors and that of another group. Should they happen upon their ancestors' bones in the forest, they will perform a dance perhaps as a sign of respect.

They also grieve the loss of their loved ones. When an elephant dies, others in the herd will lie down and refuse to work for a day. Tears can sometimes be seen in their eyes. Elephants are also well-known for their gentleness. Their walking is surprisingly silent for beasts so large.

Chailert has a tour company that brings groups to her camp. The proceeds go directly towards the welfare of the elephants.

"When I tell visitors how elephants are often ill-treated and overworked in camps, many people decline the sort ride we offer here,' says Chailert. "They just want to be with the elephants and feed them instead.

"Many times I have turned down large coach-loads of visitors because their guides want the elephants to work too hard. Once four buses arrived and the tour agency wanted to book the elephants for two hours, which was not our original agreement. They had to leave."

Some visitors come to the park expecting impressive stunts, but Chailert feels it is not dignified: "If people come asking to see some elephant gymnastics I say no, not here. Go to a a circus. Every baht we make here goes back to the elephants".

The park runs on donations and revenue from "eco-tours", which include ox-cart riding and bamboo rafting to help take the pressure off the elephants. Mahouts in Chailert's camp are forbidden to use the metal hook sometimes employed elsewhere.

The elephants in Chailert's park spend the whole afternoon and night in the forest, foraging for the richer food that can only be found there. In some other places, elephants have to rely on a quick snatch at some leaves while they wander along busy roads because their mahouts do not take them further afield.

The future of elephants in Thailand has never been more in the balance than it is now. The numbers of wild elephants have rapidly diminished as a result of deforestation and illegal poaching. Some estimates put Thailand's total as low as 4000 in the wild.

The elephant is also threatened in other parts of Southeast Asia. Estimates for the wild population of the region range from 35,000 to 50,000, with a further 16,000 in captivity.

The government of the United States of America is currently planning a bill to help conserve Asian elephants and their habitat. The bill seeks five million dollars a year for five years.

But Chailert is quick to point out that this will amount to nothing if the community is not educated and does not participate in the issue of elephant protection. She believes these royal creatures deserve the protection of the king.

Her long-term plans include reforestation of an area near her camp to provide food for elephants and work for poor local people. No stranger to poverty herself, she wants to encourage locals to care for, and become more aware of, the environment. Her plan has the backing of the forestry commission. Other people doing similar work across the country would help ensure the protection of the elephants' natural habitat.

Recently Chailert and her helpers discovered a white elephant in Mae Hong Son (a nearby province). The elephant had never been washed, so its owners did not realise it was white. Chailert brought it to her park. When it was scrubbed, it came up pink!

"Perhaps this could be an omen of hope," says Chailert. "Thailand's elephants need all the help they can get."

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