WE ARE ALL EARS!
Photo by By Fairoza Mansor - September 10, 2020
Why women lead conservationists’ fight to protect endangered Asian elephants under threat from mankind
For decades human activities have diminished wildlife, but ‘elephant whisperer’ Sangdeaun Lek Chailert, founder of Thailand’s Elephant Nature Park, and Krithi Karanth, chief conservation scientist at India’s Centre for Wildlife Studies, hope education will encourage change.
The natural world appears to have been thriving since most of the Earth’s human population went into lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. While few viral images have been proved to be factually misleading, some of these tales of a revived nature and emboldened wildlife are in fact legitimate.
Photo by Karoline Hood. Rescued elephants at Elephant Nature Park
Lek Chailert Went On A Mission To Save The Asian Elephant.
Lek has rescued over 200 elephants, many of them arrive blind, disabled and or suffering from psychological trauma. Many have gone through a process know as Phajaan or ‘crushing.
Phajaan or ‘crushing’ is the traditional Asian torture of young elephants to break their spirit. Used on both wild and domesticated elephants. It is the brutal torture of elephants until they are submissive to humans.
They are held in small cages, their front and back legs tied with ropes to stretch out their limbs, and then repeatedly stabbed, burned and beaten into submission. They are deprived of food and water. Bullhooks (a tool used in most forms of elephant control) are used to stab the animal's head, jab the skin and tug the elephant's ears.
(CNN) — Bangkok might be the most-visited city in the world, but it's far from the only draw in Thailand.
Beyond the amazing food, glittering temples and famously friendly culture, the country has yet another precious commodity: its elephants.
And at Elephant Nature Park, an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in the Chiang Mai countryside, you'll be surrounded by them.
It took nine hours for 58-year-old Sri Nuan and 30-year-old Somboon to complete their 20km freedom walk on the Thai resort island of Koh Samui. Along the way the two Asian elephants – the older one toothless and in poor condition, the other 17 months pregnant – were fed watermelon, pineapple and bananas by the many islanders and tourists who, under the glow of a full moon, lined the roads to watch their heart-warming journey.
After spending a life-changing weekvolunteering at Elephant Nature Park in Thailand with my family, helping to care for the rescued animals who had endured unthinkable abuse at the hands of humans, I was very concerned about Disney’s new, live-action remake of Dumbo.
Faa Mai has lived in the Elephant Nature Park for quite some time and she now has fallen in love with another rescued elephant baby, Thong Ae. She wants to make sure that the same loving attention is shown to the baby elephant that she received from Lek.
CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Beyond the mountainous landscapes and lush jungles of Northern Thailand lies a haven for the gentlest of creatures.
"Many of them arrive here like a zombie, some of them arrive here and they [don't] know they are elephants, they stand still ... they walk in a circle," said Sangduen "Lek" Chailert, founder of the Elephant Nature Park.
Chailert has devoted her life to the conservation of this endangered species. Since 1996, she has rescued 200 distressed elephants in Thailand and neighboring countries.