Mahouts for a day!

Taking care of elephants for a day – unanimously, the highlight of our recent vacation inThailand. At the risk of being too wordy, I’ve tried to use more pictures.  But it was just such an incredible experience, it’s hard not to want to say a lot too. In Thailand, Asian elephants are revered. But they are also highly endangered due to poaching, illegal trading and captivity for tourism, and loss of natural habitat. I just finished reading an article sent to me by a friend which saddened me. I am so glad that we were able to see and be with elephants the way that we did, especially after reading this article. http://lifeasahuman.com/2012/feature/the-dark-side-of-the-elephant-business/ (the link for those interested)

On our first day of our spring break, along with the Gunsolus-Paterson family, we spent an entire day “working” at Patara Elephant Farm – a private elephant farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “Working” is used loosely here since we weren’t really working in the true sense of the word – not as hard as a real mahout (elephant caretaker). But we were guided through the same daily activities of the mahouts, and we learned enough to change our view of elephants forever.

When we first arrived, we were awed by the sight of several elephants freely roaming around the main gathering hut. There were a couple of baby elephants – one of which stepped on Lily’s foot. Needless to say, she was apprehensive when she had to approach a larger elephant but it was quickly explained that the baby elephant moves as awkwardly as a human baby. An adult elephant knows exactly where to step.  In fact, during our introduction, we were asked to pay attention to elephant movements – methodical, patient and with precision despite their size. After the introduction (I will go into more about what we learned after the pictures), we put on ponchos to make us look more like the mahouts.   It was important that the elephants saw us as the same as mahouts.  We were ready to meet our elephants.

We learned how to determine the elephant’s mood and to ask for permission to approach: flapping tail and ears meant OK to come closer, but not if the ears were held tight to the head. We moved forward with offerings of organic bananas (yes, these bananas are specifically grown on the farm, chemical-free, just for the elephants as their skin is very sensitive).  Here, Emily is feeding bananas and making nice with Boon Pak.  The tusks made me a little nervous at first.

Next, we learned that examining elephant poop each day tells the mahout whether the elephant is healthy and eating well. Solid poops like the one Grace is happily holding, should be moist and full of fibers.  Surprisingly, it didn’t smell that bad – a bit grassy but then again, I didn’t take a huge whiff!We also learned how to recognize dark patches on the elephant’s side. Those indicate that the elephant slept on its side as it should. These two easy and quick daily assessments help maintain the elephant’s health.

We brushed the dirt and debris off our elephant after asking it to lay down. Imagine having someone ride on your back with debris rubbing into your skin – ouch! Larry’s and my elephant, Mai Wan Dee, a 45 year old bull, didn’t want to be bothered with us at first. But after a few minutes of watching us wave bananas around, I supposed he figured he had nothing better to do.  Still, a mature 45 year old animal, human or not, does what he wants and we were absolutely ready to respect that!  He was quietly, but stubbornly clear about that point when we went for our walk – headed off the track to snack off the branches and nothing we or the mahout said had any effect.

Bathing the elephants in the water was amazing. They enjoyed the water being splashed on them as much as we enjoyed scrubbing their bodies (following the direction of the lines in their skin). It was so much fun watching the girls climb all over the elephants – even elephants needed washing behind the ears.

Our turn for a little shower! 

Nice and clean, we were ready to go on an elephant ride!  (And well fed too!  The picnic lunch served by the Patara Family was so delicious – fried chicken, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, and frest fruit.)

Patara Elephant Farm’s mission is to foster the healthy breeding of elephants – to grow the population and sustain its growth. During our introduction, we were told that Patara Farm is a private farm. – it receives no government funding. In fact, Patara Farm shows up in a tourism catalog under Thai lifestyle – elephants are a critical part of the Thai lifestyle and fostering its continuity in a safe, humane way is what Patara Farm strives to do. It accepts rescued elephants and nurses them to health. In the ten years of operation, they have had 15 new births and no elephant deaths. By the end of the day, as Jeanne pointed out, it was amazing the see our children walking amongst elephants, or looking at chatskis and not thinking twice about the gentle giant that just strolled past.  Or, the one who walked right into the hut to hang out. The elephants we had the pleasure of spending the day with were such beautiful beings.  We enjoyed it so much and hope to return someday.