Kuala Mandeh Elephant Sanctuary

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A highlight of this journey by far was the Kuala Mandah Elephant Sanctuary. We took a two hour drive through very dense jungle and palm plantations to get there. It was one of those days when I felt really far from home. Maybe it was when the guide explained to us that the goats were kept above ground so that they don’t get eaten by pythons at night. Or maybe it was the fact that there are tigers living in the jungle. Anyway, back to Elephants. The sanctuary we visited was set up by the Malaysian government to protect the elephants displaced by the overwhelming number of palm plantations taking over the Malaysian jungle, a problem that plagues a number of animal populations. The elephants protest being pushed back into the jungle by stampeding the palms which places them in danger of being shot by plantation owners. The sanctuary has a few different roles. First they are available to rescue injured elephants and baby elephants that get stuck ravines. These elephants are immediately released into the wild once recovered so they don’t lose their ability to feed themselves. If they don’t recover in time, they stay. The most dangerous undertaking of this underfunded program is to move entire herds of elephants to a larger virgin jungle 14 hours away. To do this they have to sedate them, put shackles on them and use trained elephants to bring them onto a truck and then a ferry. The presence of another elephant helps to calm them but sometimes they die from the stress of not being free, which they’ve never experienced. The elephants we fed and bathed in the river seemed very happy. The only time they looked irritated is when we took turns riding them bareback in a circle. I’d be annoyed too. We fed them peanuts and fruit to their trunks and mouths. The trunk was like a giant vacuum on our hands. It was scary and exhilarating, and a little gross when you realize your hand is wet. The elephants loved to be in the river. We got in with them and splashed water on top of them. Their skin felt much less prickly in the water. Asian elephants are much smaller than African but they still weigh up to 5 tons. We had to mind our feet when the elephants started rolling around in the mud of the river. The experience was pure joy for us animal lovers.

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