RadioRoryOk, my nieces aren’t REALLY like elephants, but maybe that title will get them to read my blog more. Still, they have at least one thing in common. They are motivated by food.
While it could be mistaken for a Thanksgiving family photo, the pachyderms living at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai have it pretty good. They’re not forced to work or carry tourists on their backs and there’s no threat of being wounded by landmines.
Malai Thong still manages to get around, despite her injuries. She even helped another old, blind elephant named Jarunee by acting as her eyes and leading her around the park. Jarunee was in failing health, but died late last year with her best friend at her side.
I’m pretty sure this was her. She was being kept at the vet clinic at the sprawling park because they otherwise roam free. You can tell the older elephants by the deeper indentations in their skulls. The Elephant Nature Park will let you get dirty handling, feeding, and otherwise caring for the animals. Extended overnight trips are available for people who want to spend days getting really close to the animals. I gotta say, it looks like hard, smelly, sweaty work.
Me, I signed up for the daylong experience. It basically includes feeding and bathing the elephants but none of the real heavy lifting.
Asian elephants may not be as big or majestic as their African counterparts, but you wouldn’t want to mess with one. During a walk through the park one of the more aggressive elephants appeared to be having a bad day. Our guide told us to stay in place while we waited for it to walk by. I’m not sure standing in the middle of an open field hoping an elephant won’t spot you is the best strategy, but it seemed to work.
I’m not an elephant lover or hater. Honestly, I don’t think about them very much. Still, you can’t help but appreciate the tight family bonds.
The people who run this park are also proud of their work. To get here, you drive past lots of other elephant experiences and see these animals burdened by heavy metal baskets filled with tourists. I wouldn’t use the word “abuse” to describe their treatment, but “exploitation” certainly fits. Competing parks with different philosophies are just across the river and there is no love lost.
Attitudes about elephants are changing. You only have to look at the recent closure of the Ringling Brothers circus to see that. Experiences like the Elephant Nature Park are also growing. They’ve expanded with operations at parks across Thailand and now in Cambodia too.
And they need lots of help to get those elephants cleaned and fed every day.
Gee, maybe elephants really are like my nieces.