The elephants are bathed twice a day at around 1pm and 4pm, and it is devoid of doubt their favourit...

1. A Visit to The Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand
by Kevin Butters
The elephants are bathed twice a day at around 1pm and 4pm, and it is devoid of doubt their
favourite occasions of day, and absolutely by the time its bath time they are typically absolutely
covered in a mixture of mud, dirt and flies.
The groups are also informed about the individual elephants &amp the sorry tales behind each and
every of them, 1 of them walks like an invalid this is because her legs got broken in a variety of
logging accidents. There are a couple of older male elephants such as the king of the clan.
The Elephant Nature Park is just a single hour's drive north of the Thai city of Chiang Mai, it is
situated in the attractive all-natural settings of the Mae Taeng Valley, which enjoys a scenic river
running by way of it and is surrounded by the densely forested mountains of Northern Thailand.
The park operates as both a sanctuary &amp a rescue centre for distressed &amp sick Asian
Elephants from all more than Thailand.
" To give a sanctuary to an endangered species - Asian Elephant numbers in Thailand have
decreased drastically over the last century from more than 100,000 down to significantly less than
2,000 animals left currently.
Arriving at the park you meet the other vacationers, numbering on average involving twenty &amp
forty, also dependent on time of the year. An additional one is entirely blind mainly because the
mahout (handler) stabbed her eyes out with arrows in order to get "obedience" from it. At instances
they totally disappear below the water only to reappear and trumpet water over anyone &amp
absolutely everyone inside variety.
Lek (meaning "tiny" in Thai) grew up in a local village not as well far away from the park, and it has
been via the endless tough function of Adam &amp Lek plus the continued support of her household
that the park has been capable to continue to expand and turn into profitable.
As the sun starts to set, the day trippers leave &amp the "boarders" watch some of the quite gentle
education that is made use of to keep the elephants pleased &amp contented.
Some of the majestic beasts merely "outlived" their usefulness to the Hill Tribe People today who
employed them for logging purposes, as the use of the animals has diminished due to both
mechanisation &amp substantially stricter controls on the management of Thailand's forests , others
had been so badly treated that they became weak &amp sick, thus useless to their trekking camp
owners.
Each and every elephant has a unique story, but the popular bond shared among them all is that
they have suffered abuse at the hands of us humans!.
The elephants that live in the sanctuary of the Elephant Nature Park are primarily from private
owners obtaining been acquired by negotiated costs.
The park is now household to 31 elephants of all ages from just a single year old correct up to
"grand-daddy" at over 70 years old! The Elephant has a related lifespan to humans, and type families

2. of equivalent composition and duration. Some of the "youngsters" have mothers but all have
"aunties". Feeding doesn't take lengthy &amp there are adequate elephants for every single tourist
to have their own to feed and you quickly find out their personalities.
Immediately after the elephants have been bathed, if Lek (the founder) is offered, she usually
appears to greet both the tourists &amp to say hello to "her family members", as she approaches, all
of the elephants come more than to greet her and it is pretty clear she has a special affinity with
them.
The nights even though are far from silent, as apart from the 31 elephants there are nicely more
than 50 other "pets" ranging from dogs, cats, water buffalo &amp cows, not to mention the frogs,
and millions of insects throughout the park.
Once lunch is more than it is time for the next highlight of the day. A single desires its watermelons
peeled, another will not eat bananas, and an additional won't touch the cucumbers till the rest has
all gone. But another was shot since he threw some tourists off his back while undertaking a harmful
ascent up a narrow jungle path, even " The King" of the elephants had been a victim of ivory
poachers.
With buckets and scrubbing brushes the visiting group sets to function cleaning, significantly to the
appreciation of the elephants.
There are cheeky elephants, nosy elephants, lonely elephants, greedy elephants, fast eaters and slow
eaters. Your guide for the day starts by introducing you to the many elephants and their
relationships with each and every other and just before extended a dozen or so of them are sniffing
about the guests with their trunks, expecting lunch shortly.
Thailand as a country is Complete of elephant "experiences" out there to tourists, you can ride them,
watch them paint pictures, play drums, play football, do a trick or two for meals, or lug supplies on
trekking adventures, but this park is different simply because it does not allow ANY of these cruel
exploitations. These giants of the jungle like nothing at all superior than splashing around &amp
playing in the water, rolling more than and over. It is house to elephants that have been abused in
this manner or orphaned or rescued over the previous ten years.
The "targets" of the park are very uncomplicated
however thought provoking:
Every elephant has a laundry basket complete of fruit
made to order. All round it's excellent exciting &amp the
experience of living &amp working with the elephants is
some thing that offers fabulous living memories for lots
of years to come !!.
The accommodation is somewhat on the "rustic" side, but the beds are comfortable, and it is
surprising just how tired you get during your day with the elephants.
Most tourists going to the park as "day-trippers', the park does also provide 2-7 day stays, &amp
even "volunteer" stays of 14-30 days, there is some thing appropriate for everybody.

3. " To assist restore the ecological balance by rain forest restoration - the park is carrying out an
aggressive programme of tree planting, with the aim to replant 25 acres of trees a year for 5 years
to support re-introduce the rain forest &amp with it promote the plants &amp animals that rely on
it.
Just after being collected from their hotels or lodgings in
Chiang Mai, the very first port of contact for the guests is
to invest in fruit at the market place, an elephant can eat
up to
http://www.thailandsworld.com/en/chiang-mai/chiang-mai-a
rt-culture/index.cfm 200kg of food a day, so "wholesale
purchasing" is the order of the day.
Just after the elephants have their lunch the tour groups will have theirs, the meals is really very
excellent, it is a buffet so there is a thing for every person, even including vegetarians which for
Thailand is quite uncommon.
Please take a look at the Elephant Nature Park web site at:
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/index.htm for extra details.
Dinner is equally as delicious as lunch, and we have opportunity to meet &amp chat with the
volunteers, some of whom have been at the Elephant Nature Park for weeks some even months!.
The park which covers a total land region of 800 hectares (two,000 acres), was founded in 1996 and
was the brainchild of Sangduen "Lek" Chailert &amp her husband Adam.
" To preserve the cultural integrity of the regional neighborhood - by producing employment and
purchasing agricultural goods locally the park is helping the villagers to sustain their distinct
culture.
" To market the park as a indicates of education - for visitors, people, study groups, schools and
interested parties, with the important focus being on the plight of the endangered nearby species
presented in an entertaining however meaningful way.
Everybody heads to the river for the washing ritual and it is one particular of the funniest things you
could ever see. There are elephants that assist out, or have adopted them, even if not genetically
associated. But be warned -you won't get out of this exercise without a lot of elephant drool and snot
on your hands!