Elephant Bliss

I have just had the most amazing morning! I am on day 2 of a 3 day Elephant Conservation Centre stay. Yesterday we traveled absolutely barfaricious roads with very little asphalt and had a much smoother boat ride to a place where they rescue, rehabilitate, resocialize, reproduce and eventually rewild elephants that have been in the logging, entertainment or tourist trade. They also conduct research involving traditional mahouts working alongside biologists and veterinarians. 

We chose this particular place because of their philosophy and ethical treatment of the elephants. There is no riding or touching these elephants. We are here to be educated and to support the center and the elephants are not our entertainment. We get to follow them throughout the jungle, watch them play in the nursery and watch them socialize, see how the veterinary hospital works, but we don’t interfere with them being elephants. Most of the elephants here are learning how to be social elephants, since they were basically enslaved and isolated all their lives and have never been able to just roam and have social groups with other elephants. Working elephants are either given hormonal birth control or separated from their calves, so many elephants don’t even know how to raise young. 

Positive reinforcement is how the elephants here are trained to accept veterinary care and follow their mahouts. Basically they are bribed with bananas and banana trees or sugarcane while vets and biologists pretend to give them care so they have pleasant associations when they actually need care or have health testing. Most of the elephants who are rescued require extensive physical health care and support for their psychological trauma. 

When we arrived we were shown to our very rustic, yet comfy bungalows. Just beds, a table fan, mosquito nets and a porch overlooking the lake. The bathroom and shower blocks are nearby. We watched an informational film and immediately trudged up into the jungle mountains at 36C temps to eat lunch overlooking the waterhole they refer to as “the nursery.” After we ate, two moms with their babies were brought down to the water by their mahouts so we could gawk and take photos while they frolicked. 

Once lunch was done we packed up and headed to the veterinary clinic to learn how they care for and treat the elephants. The squeamish in the group did not appreciate the videos of cleaning the pus from elephant abscesses. Later they brought a mixed group of females and a male down to the waterfront to eat some high value treats and go for a swim. A couple stuck their toes in and drank a bit, but they were more into the snacks than the water.

The day ended with a glorious sunset, a film shown by a biologist about elephant welfare with a Q & A session, and a delicious dinner.

This morning we trekked into the jungle early with a mahout and guide to wake up this mahout’s elephant and give her breakfast. Off we went up into the already steamy hot jungle mountains until we were to where he chained her the night before. They are on 50m chains at night so they don’t wander off and eat some farmer’s plantation and get shot. He went down the scruffy valley where we heard some bamboo elephant bells, and then she emerged. A big old sweetie. Mae Doh, the first elephant at the centre and the oldest. She was all massive body with soft looking wrinkled skin and pink freckled ears. She wanted her bananas popped in her mouth and was not keen on walking to the nursery. We all followed 10 feet or more behind her, keeping quiet, until we joined up with other elephants also coming to the watering hole. 

We got to stand on the beach and watch a group of elephants bathe and play in the water. Seeing all these elephants just enjoying themselves was indescribable. When they had enough, we followed them to the socialization area where we watched them from a platform. They would huddle together and chat and touch each other or the young ones would go play or eat more. Elephants communicate with one another using infrasonic sounds that travel through the ground that humans can’t hear, in addition to touch communication. They were elephants enjoying being together while learning what it might feel like to be in a herd. Two of the young ones climbed up near where we were perched so they could get more trees to eat and later we saw their mahouts trying to convince them to come down. 

We stayed there in a state of pure joy until it was time to head back for lunch. We walked past the nursery waterhole where one elephant had returned to have a water blowing bath. As we were walking back up the mountain towards the center, a couple of us noticed a mahout running flat out, then we heard an elephant trumpet. It sounded like screaming. The mahout ran into the socialization area, turned back and ran full speed again to their shelter to grab something, then back to the socialization area. The few of us near the front were peering to see the cause and then we saw it! One of the baby elephants was tumbling down the mountain near where we had sheltered, her huge feet flailing as she tumbled, the other elephants panicking. My impulse was to run towards her like the mahout to…what…catch the falling elephant? My heart was in my mouth and then she landed and stood up. Her little friend ran to see if she was okay and the other elephants surrounded her. Elephant bones are solid, no marrow, so she’s probably okay but I’m sure they checked her out in the hospital to be sure. Our guide was all, “oh they do that all the time.”

We had another visit to the hospital to witness a practice health check on the pregnant elephant. She was so focused on the treats that she was happy to raise whatever foot they wanted and let them check her ears.

Tomorrow we hike back out into the jungle mountains to visit the bachelor male herd. This is the only place in Laos that rehabilitates male elephants, since they are considered more difficult and dangerous. We shall see how difficult and dangerous these guys really are.

Report back: the particular male they had assigned us for the morning had spent overnight on an island 4 bloody mountains away and we had to trek out to meet him there. The mahout had to wade through waist deep water to get to him and it was spectacular to see the huge male slowly emerge from the forest with the mahout on his back and walk into the lake. We followed him all the way back to the nursery area with him sometimes letting out whiffy elephant farts. 

We ran out of time to go to the male socialization area, which was much farther than the female area, but our male and another friend of his put on a charming display of affection and play fighting for us at the nursery. They touched each others faces and held each others trunks with their trunks, leaned against one another with their heads touching and eventually did some play fighting by putting their tusks together and pushing each other around. They were legit adorable and it felt nice to see previously abused animals just having fun with their friend.

It’s a really well run place that respects the dignity of the elephants and supports the traditional role of the mahout as someone who understands his elephant and its ways, while bringing in scientific knowledge and research. It’s comfortable and arranged to make things communal and friendly. One of my favourite things is that they have an elephant mobile library using elephants to carry children’s books to rural areas. Imagine having an elephant as your school bookmobile! 

I also met a massive spider near the bar who was as big as my outstretched hand. It wasn’t poisonous but if it had jumped on someone’s face it would have looked like the scene in Alien. 

The people who did this experience were an interesting lot. There were the usual young fit travelling couples who chatted with everyone and the older German couple who only spoke to one another. There was an older Belgian woman who was annoyed that a French family had brought 2 young children. You have to be quiet around the elephants so they don’t get spooked and charge you so the family had their hands full keeping the 2 young kids quiet. The second day all the primarily English speakers left and I was immersed in French at meals and social time. Later a new group of people showed up and amongst them were 2 Japanese women each carrying a newborn and exhaustedly trying to keep eyes on 2 toddlers. At one point they walked through where the elephants were near our dock area, leaving one of the toddlers behind SURROUNDED BY UNRESTRAINED ELEPHANTS. We couldn’t yell to them or risk spooking the elephants but eventually one noticed they were missing a child and came back for her. Overall, these poor women were unable to keep all the children calm or quiet, which was stressful for all of us. We met 2 Ottawa women who were part of their co-hort who weren’t thrilled to not be able to hear their guide, nor to be held back by crying children way too young to be hiking hot jungle mountains. With their arrival, the Belgian woman decided she was now 100% team French family, switched her complaints to the Japanese women and we were all our own little French clique after that. As we were all leaving the same day in 3 minivans, everyone was scrambling to avoid being in a van with the screaming Japanese baby/toddler contingent. Our Belgian woman counted all of us out and shoved us in a van together back to Luang Prabang to ensure we stayed together and there wasn’t room for unauthorized crying small people.