Working With Giants

Asia » Thailand » North-West Thailand » Lampang
July 29th 2007

Published: July 29th 2007

Edit Blog Post

mossop88

Me and My Elephant

Loi Gau poses for a photo with me

My placement in the hospital portion of the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC) was possibly the portion of my trip that I was most looking forward to from the start. Without a doubt, it did not disappoint and I feel very lucky to have been able to work so closely with animals that are so impressive in both the magnitude of their physical size and their intelligence. Asian Elephants (being a distinct species from the African Elephant) are highly revered in Thai culture, and are inextricably intertwined with the history of the country. They are listed as an endangered species (African Elephants are not) and their numbers in Thailand have plummeted over the last 50-100 years. Wild populations are a fraction of what they once were due to habitat fragmentation, poaching and other ills brought on by encroaching civilization, and domestic populations have suffered a similar fate. At the turn of the 20th century there were approximately 100,000 domestic elephants working in Thailand, virtually 100% in the logging industry. Currently, there are about 2,500. Logging has now been more or less banned in Thailand, with the exception of restricted tracts that are planted sustainably. A few do still hold those

Blood Collection

From a vein in the ear... about the only place you can get it

legal jobs, but more work illegally, meaning they work long, hard hours overnight, often pushed on by amphetamine injections given by their unscrupulous owners. These illegals also tend to work in dangerous areas, such as the deep jungle that borders Laos or Myanmar, where uncharted mine fields still abound (several of the elephants at the TECC are there as a result of land mine injuries). The remainer of the working population have gone into tourism or street begging, two other industries that present their own problems. Bottom line is, conservation is needed now more than ever, and I can't think of a better way to learn more and get involved than to help out at the TECC.

The center itself is located just outside of the city of Lampang, about an hour and a half South of Chiang Mai. It is funded in part by the government, but must supply about 50% of it's budget through donation and ticket sales, etc. It is a sprawling complex with a more tourist-oriented area near the front featuring Elephant rides, educational displays, and a show where you can watch these behemoths demonstrate their strength by perform tasks they would typically carry out

"A.I."

The 4 month old baby elephants huddles beneath it's surrogate mother

in logging, or their dexterity, by painting a picture much better than anything I could produce myself. The other major components of the center are the Royal Elephant Stables, the Mahout school and the hospital.

The Royal Elephant stables are home to about 20 of the King's elephants who have all been selected based on a list of desirable characteristics. Basically, they're all pretty huge with large tusks, and many have more white colouration than does your typical Asian Elephant. I would love to show you some pictures here, but was told specifically that the King would not appreciate photos being published in any manner. I may like to return to Thailand at some point in the future so unfortunately you're out of luck. The Mahout school is certainly something I would have considered looking into, had I not already had the inside track with my placement at the hospital, and an experience I would recommend to anyone traveling to Northern Thailand. So what is a mahout anyway? A mahout - originally and Indian term - is a person who drives, cares for and trains an elephant. Back in the day they used to work in pairs, generally father

In The Teak Forest

One of our patient approaches on a mobile clinic call

son teams. This way, if the elephant outlived the mahout who started its training there was somebody the elephant was familiar with to forge ahead. At the mahout school here they train and teach Thais, but as a tourist you can also sign up for a course lasting anywhere from 3 days to 3 months.

The level of organization in the hospital section was a welcomed relief after the disarray that was the DRCS on Samui. Thorough records, a stocked pharmacy and access to all sorts of high-tech gadgets like ultrasound machines and endoscopes were available. The hospital provides all services free of charge to any elephant who needs them. Many cases are brought directly to the hospital, but since moving an elephant is not exactly the easiest task, many cases are also dealt with through the mobile elephant clinic service. There are 5 veterinarians employed by the TECC, but we spent the majority of our time interacting with just 3 of them: Dr. Tom, Dr. Yeaw and Dr. Pap (These are all nicknames that they use even amongst fellow Thais - their real names are simply too long and unwieldy). Both Dr. Yeaw and Dr. Pap were in

A Mahout And His Ride

At the Pang La Rehabilitation Center

fact younger than me (Dr. Yeaw by only a few days, but Dr. Pap was a mere babe at the age of 24, and only about 6 months into the job), and were given the job of "babysitting" us for the most part. We had a blast hanging out with them, but their jokes we soooo bad that they actually became funny again.

Dr. Pap - "Are you hungry?"
Canadian Students - "Yes"
Dr. Pap - "No"
Canadian Students - "Yes, we are!"
Dr. Pap - "No, you are not Hungary, you are Canadia!"

Hilarious, eh?

Anyway... back to the elephants. There were two rules we were given in regards to our interactions with the elephants in the hospital: 1) Elephants are not pets, and 2) Never approach and elephant unless their mahout is present. With an average weight of about 3000kg it's easy to see why a little common sense goes a long way. Those minor limitations aside, we were more or less allowed to participate in all aspects of elephant care from basic management to medical treatment. Our first day at the center we were each assigned an elephant to work with for the remainder

Handy Place To Have A Crane

In the TECC Elephant Hospital

of our stay. This way the elephants had a chance to get accustomed to us and we had a chance to get familiarized with what was involved in their daily care. My elephant was named Loi Gau, which translates directly into 109. I never was able to find out why she had a number for a name, unlike any of the other elephants, but she was mine either way. Loi Gau was about 40 years old and was in the hospital because she was a emaciated and also had a wound on one of her hind legs. Every morning at 7am I would meet Loi Gau's, and hence my mahout, who was named Udon, although I liked to refer to him as "Don Mahout". We would head over to where Loi Gau was keep tethered overnight and start the day off with a good session of shoveling shit.... Did I mention that elephants eat alot? After that, we would walk her down a couple hundred meters towards the hopspital where I'd give her a bath with the hose, always managing to get myself thoroughly soaked in the process, and filling up her trunk once or twice if she happened to

Mahout

At one of the elephant camps we visited with the mobile clinic

be thirsty that particular morning. Following that was morning treatment, consisting of vitamin pills hidden inside a gob of sticky tamarind, a good cleaning of her wounded foot and finally a breakfast of banna grass.

The remainder of our days varied quite a bit. Sometimes we'd have the occaision to come back and take our elephants out for a longer walk later in the morning, but more often that not we were involved in some treatment with the doctors, or out on the road. Some of the cases on the go at the hospital while we were there included an elephant with a mysterious lameness in one of its hind legs (still undiagnosed after 2 weeks, x-rays, ultrasound exams and a visit from an equine lameness specialist), an eye infection, a colic and a case of vulvular hyperplasia. Elephant conservation being one of the principle goals of the center, reproduction is a large focus at the TECC. In fact, only 4 months ago they became the first center in Asia to birth a calf conceived through artificial insemination. Still awaiting a name from the King, for the moment the calf is simply nicknamed "A.I.", whom we had the pleasure

Early Morning Swim

of bottle feeding on occaision. We were also lucky enough to be on hand for a semen collection workshop that was hosted for students from Chiang Mai University, and took part in both semen collection and preparation, as well as the insemination of a female a few days later. Needless to say, I think this was a pretty unique experience, and not something I see myself being involved in again any time soon. Who knows, maybe in two years time (gestation = 22 months) there will be a little baby elephant born that I played some infinitesmal part in bringing into this world. Or maybe not.... A.I. was the first success of about 50 attempts at this center alone.

Our trips outside of the hospital with the mobile elephant clinic proved equally interesting. My favourite outing was literally to the middle of nowhere. After driving down the highway for several hours we pulled off onto a dirt track leading into a forest of towering teak trees. Once we were deep into the forest we stopped, got out of our truck, and waited. Sure enough, just a few minutes later an elephant emerged from the trees with his mahout and

The Eye of a Giant

they made their way up a hill towards us. We actually treated two elephants that day, both of whom work in the logging industry; one for a shoulder abscess the size of a small watermelon (likely caused by the logging harness) and the other for an eye problem. More than the treatments themselves, it was the setting itself which made this visit so special. Not a sound to be heard except the breathing and movement of the elephants, and maybe the odd bird. Another great experience was working at the Pang La rehabilitation center, where we also spent one night. Associated with the TECC, the rehabilitation center is also nestled deep in the forest, albeit not quite as middle of nowhere as the previous "house call". It is home to elephants that essentially aren't wanted, or can't be handeled by anyone else. This includes elephants which are old and frail, deformed due to injury, or "furious" (a term used to described elephants which are essentially crazy and/or aggressive. Can be caused by mental illness as in humans, but is more likely the result of abuse suffered in the past). With a great deal of help from the mahouts and what

The Sperm Lab

Students from Chiang Mai University process samples after semen collection

I can best describe as an "elephant restraint gate", we examined the resident elephants, several of which had gross limb deformities due to improperly healed fractures, gave regular injections such as vitamin supplement and dewormers, and cleaned wounds. All in all it really was a treat to get to work at these types of sites which are made all the more special by not being open to the public.

I would like to write more, but my plane leaves for Jakarta shortly and I don't know what internet access will be like there so I'd better get this out. Please excuse the abrupt ending. Only two more weeks in Indonesia and then back home? Where does the time go?

Until next time....

Mike

Additional photos below

Photos: 44, Displayed: 29