Baby Elephants Playing Soccer Baby Bear Playing Soccer
Information technology'due south a year since I spent a day at Elephant Nature Park (ENP) as part of Intrepid's Chiang Mai and Elephants itinerary, still the impact of those few hours is etched deep inside me. Here'southward why.
Looking into the eyes of Jokia, is a window into the expert, bad and ugly side of humanity.
In Thai, Jokia means 'eye from heaven', but sadly behind the lite in her eyes, in that location'due south darkness. Her sight stolen past the easily of her owners.
Jokia.
"Jokia was an illegal logging elephant", our guide Atichart Chatpistchaikul (known equally Tong) explained. "One mean solar day she miscarried while hauling logs and wasn't allowed to stop to encounter if her dogie was alive or expressionless. When she refused to piece of work, the mahout sling-shotted a stone into her heart." After being sold to some other logger, Jokia suffered from depression and notwithstanding wouldn't work. "And so her new owner fired an pointer into her other center."
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Like Jokia, each of the lxx elephants living at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, has a heart-breaking tale to tell. Jokia'due south all-time friend, Sri Prae lost part of her foot in a landmine; Dok Ngern bears emotional scars from performing demeaning circus tricks; Jarunee's dorsum is sunken from carrying tourists; Mae Thai'south ears are shredded through the utilise of a hook to brand her booty logs and beg on the streets; Tilly has a dislocated hip and was part of a forced breeding programme.
Jokia means 'eye from sky'.
Listening to Tong tell the elephant's outrageously tragic stories created an emotional avalanche inside me – tears gushed like waterfalls, my body shook with anger, words choked my throat. How could I not know this cruelty happened? Is still happening. I felt naïve, confused, helpless. How could I not know that earlier an elephant is trained to do anything for humans, its spirit is broken – put in a cage chosen a 'crush' and tormented physically and emotionally until it succumbs. How could I not know that illegal poaching is still rife? That baby elephants are plucked from their herd and the mother (and sometimes aunties) need to be killed because they'll stop at nothing to to protect their family? How could I non know?
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Besties.
I wanted to run back to the route where we saw tourists atop elephants and plead with them to get off – to tell them the ugly truth behind why elephants tolerate people riding on their backs. I wanted to shout from the treetops that unless the demand stops for ele-tainment activities – like painting pictures, boot soccer balls, riding bikes, playing music – the bike will proceed spinning.
But instead, I slowly let the sense of enlightenment envelop me. I started to experience the positive energy of the imperial creatures who have endured then much, and are now in their 'forever' home.
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Elephants don't demand people to assistance them bathe.
Founded in the 1990s by 'elephant whisperer' Lek Chailert, Elephant Nature Park is one of the leading lights of a sanctuary for rescued elephants. Her work has been honoured by Time magazine, Hillary Clinton, and the Ford Foundation, and has featured in numerous documentaries and articles. Although I didn't come across Lek, I heard her working in the distance with a recent inflow. Tong said that when the elephants first make it "They ofttimes stand like zombies or are aggressive." As Lek was trying to calm the elephant downward, other elephants were trumpeting with gusto. "They do that," he said. "They're telling the new elephant that she's now prophylactic, that no one will ever hurt her again."
READ MORE About INTREPID'Due south STANCE ON ANIMAL WELFARE HERE
An afternoon stroll to the river.
All the elephants have been rescued from abusive situations. Lek and her staff rely on intel from local villagers, and then set up about purchasing the elephant through donations and volunteer work.
Tong explained how the niche marketplace in tourism began in Thailand after logging was officially banned in 1989. Elephants and their mahouts were out of a task. "Elephants cost a lot to feed and they didn't have anywhere to go because at that place's not enough forest left." I wondered if, as the elephants were hauling the logs, they realised they were destroying their own habitat. A cruel twist of irony.
Lunch political party!
Elephants demand to eat around 8% of their body weight every 24-hour interval
Led past Tong, we walked amongst the gentle giants while the mahouts gently guided the elephants into the different areas of the park. Some bathed in the river, others played in the mud, stroked each other with their trunks, sprayed water over their bodies, rummaged for nutrient, quietly stood in the shade, scratched their rumps on copse or simply wandered.
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Ethical tourism at its all-time.
Elephant tourism in Thailand is in a transitional phase – Intrepid was the beginning global travel company to ban elephant rides from itineraries and thankfully many more than companies have now followed. Elephant Nature Park continues to strive to create a business model that engages tourists without interactive experiences. In 2018 they phased out bathing the elephants and by 2020 there'll exist no more hand feeding. "The more than elephants do by themselves, the more than they're living naturally," said Tong.
And what could exist more uplifting than seeing elephants merely being elephants?
Meet these incredible creatures at Elephant Nature Park on our 3-day Chiang Mai & Elephants Short Suspension. Full details here.
All photos by Jocelyn Pride.
Source: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/elephant-nature-park-thailand/
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