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Published: April 11th 2009
Elephants in the Mist
at the [url=http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/]ElephantNaturePark [/url]Volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park
What an amazing week, unlike anything I've ever experienced before! Last month I volunteered at the Elephant Nature Park
ElephantNaturePark, a sanctuary for Asian elephants in Northern Thailand.
While I was there, over 20 volunteers from all over the world worked together on projects ranging from clearing elephant night shelters to digging elephant mud pits. We also got to hand-feed the elephants, bathe them in the river, and walk with them in the jungle!
This park is unique, because visitors come to observe elephants interacting naturally in their family groups, rather than riding them in trekking camps, where they are overworked and underfed, or watching them "beg" in the city streets, where they get hit by cars. One of the latest crazes is "elephant painting" and tourists pay the owners big money for the paintings. Unfortunately for the baby elephant who is forced to paint, she is taken away from her mother forever. Not only that, the current practice is to beat the baby elephant during initial training, and then she is "prodded" by a sharp nail under her trunk to make it move the paint brush. This is hidden from
Bath time
Twice a day we got to bathe the elephants in the river! the camera and the audience.
All of this is made publicly aware by Lek, the founder of the sanctuary, who has been featured in national and international documentaries. She is setting an example for more of an eco-tourism experience of conservation and education for tourists and local people. This is good for the tourists, the elephant owners and especially good for the elephants themselves.
Now there are over 30 elephants at the sanctuary, including playful babies and grand old ladies who are over 80 years old! Many of these elephants have suffered terrible injuries from accidents and abuse in their working lives. At the park they can leave their traumas in the past and live each day in a peaceful environment with support from the people who love and care for them.
A big thank you to Joyce Major from Seattle, who turned me onto this volunteer project. She was there two years ago, and wrote an excellent, humorous book about traveling around the world as a volunteer
SmilingAtTheWorld.
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Lara Stone
non-member comment
WOW. I love the Thailand and elephant pics and stories
It was so fascinating. I would NOT have been able to bring myself to eat the bugs either!! But I wish I would...just so I could say I did! I can't wait to show my girls the elephant pics especially. What a wonderful way to volunteer. And 6 days without talking to anyone. I'll bet we don't know anyone else who has done that. I camped overnight by myself once, and I couldn't believe how long THAT seemed without talking to anyone! You've sure picked a good time to be gone. The rest of the world seems to be struggling to hold itself together. Keep on posting pictures. I'm living vicariously through you! They're wonderful!