Trunk in Love

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TAKE ME AWAY

Asia | Mar-Apr 2017

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V TWPM KP N Q X G A GROUNDBREAKING SANCTUARY IN CHIANG MAI IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MENDING — AND MELTING — ELEPHANT HEARTS

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CHIANG MAI

elephant whisperer

The

Photography David Terrazas

For millennia, the Asian elephant has entertained and toiled away on our behalf, yet humans are often oblivious to its mistreatment. Rachna Sachasinh travels to a groundbreaking sanctuary for distressed pachyderms tucked away in the lush hills of northern Thailand, and meets the inspiring woman devoting her life’s work to their physical and emotional rehabilitation

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A number of former working elephants now call this serene space at Elephant Nature Park home

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olklore and fables warn us to approach slowly and make no sudden movements when encountering large animals. This received wisdom rushed to mind one cool, misty morning in jungle-swathed Mae Teang district when I witnessed a wispy, 5ft-tall conservationist by the name of Sengduan Chailert sprinting towards one of the biggest beasts I’d ever seen.

Eight years old, with a wrinkled steel-grey hide, Faa Mai stood at least 10ft tall and must have weighed in at around two tonnes. I bit my lip and covered my eyes, guarding against the horrific possibility of the hefty elephant trampling this tiny, fearless Thai woman.

Instead, Faa Mai trumpeted in delight and trotted towards Chailert. The mighty pachyderm affectionately threw her trunk around her, and woman and beast literally embraced. Chailert ducked in and out of Faa Mai’s legs and underneath her trunk, all the while dropping palm sugar cakes directly into the majestic animal’s mouth. The two chatted like old friends. Chailert spoke a colloquial Thai dialect common in northern Thailand, while Faa Mai snorted, fl apped her freckled, salmon-hued ears and harrumphed. The exchange was a sight to behold.

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I’d arrived earlier that morning at Chailert’s Elephant Nature Park (ENP), a sanctuary she set up in 1998 for abused and injured elephants in Chiang Mai province. In its spectacular pasture, elephants stood munching fodder under clusters of leafy trees, throwing sand and mud on themselves to ward off flies and fl apping their large ears. Like most Thai people, Chailert goes by her nickname, “Lek”.

In Thai, lek means small or petite, yet everything about Chailert is larger than life. When we’d met she immediately brought me out to meet Faa Mai, and I now followed the pair as they chased each other across a grassy field into an open-air shelter with a thatched bamboo roof.

There, squatting under the elephant’s front legs, Chailert began to sing a lullaby. Every so often, she stroked Faa Mai’s calloused, leathery skin and threw sand on her tree trunk-like legs to ward off flies.

When the elephant’s eyelids became heavy with sleep, she casually shoved Chailert to the side and settled her huge frame onto the sandy earth. In the final moments before Faa Mai drifted off to sleep, she reached again for Chailert with her trunk and pulled her in close.

Later that afternoon, while sipping rosella tea on an outdoor veranda overlooking ENP’s rolling green meadow, 55-year-old Chailert delivered an impassioned monologue on the state of the critically endangered Asian elephant. Since the mid-’90s, this “elephant whisperer” has worked diligently to raise both local and international awareness about elephants, and redefine the interaction between man and beast. It’s a good thing, because these gentle giants need all the help they can get.

Asian and African elephants roamed the planet for millennia, although now they are among the planet’s most critically endangered species. At the start of the 20th century, Asia’s elephant population was pegged at 100,000, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). These days, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’ (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species suggests that the total population is half that number, with up to 4,000 remaining in Thailand. Of that number, roughly 50% are domesticated, while the remaining half survive in small pockets of wilderness. Habitat loss, poaching and declining birth rates are the leading causes of diminishing populations.

Top to bottom: tourists bathing elephants at ENP; Lek Chailert bonding with her pachyderm charge; two elephants at play after a bath

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I couldn’t just stand by and watch it happen. I knew something had to be done

Top to bottom: elephants clamour for Lek Chailert’s attention; conserving the forest is also one of Elephant Nature Park’s aims

For nearly 5,000 years, humans have conscripted wild elephants for construction, transportation and war. Ancient societies used elephants in social, political and religious ceremonies and rituals, many of which are still performed. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, elephants helped clear swathes of forest and harvest timber throughout South-East Asia. In doing so, elephants inadvertently contributed to the loss of their own habitat. Then, when Thailand banned logging in 1989, many elephants were suddenly out of work, and elephant tourism emerged as the best alternative.

In recent years, the controversy surrounding the care of domesticated elephants has escalated.

Many tourists in Thailand participate in some type of elephant-related activity, such as a jungle trek, circus performance or elephant painting, making this a lucrative and robust industry that is driving an illegal trade in live elephants. Elephant rides are one of the most heavily marketed tours in Thailand, but this use of the animal is a point of much contention, raising questions about ethics and exactly what qualifi es as animal cruelty.

To capitalise on the staggering demand, elephants and their mahouts are often overworked and live in poor conditions. According to the Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival foundation (EARS), most working elephants are subjected to repeat beatings and stabbing to make them perform repetitive tasks for an endless rotation of tourists. The financial lure of elephant tourism may be high, but the physical and emotional toll on elephant welfare is even higher.

I had travelled specifically to this bucolic part of northern Thailand in the hope that Chailert would shed some light on the issue.

Chailert developed an early love for nature, as her grandfather would often bring her along while he cared for sick animals. At Chiang Mai’s Rajapark University, Chailert began to document the abuse of elephants among logging operators. “The more I went into the jungle, the more abuse I saw,” she recalled. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch it happen. I knew something had to be done.” Scraping

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Tourism Authority of Thailand c/o Royal Thai Embassy 372 Orchard Road, Singapore 238870

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CHIANG MAI

Doing good in Chiang Mai Make your stay in Thailand’s north an ethical one with these three businesses

Top to bottom: elephants are free to roam the sanctuary after a life of toil; former street dogs play alongside their giant friends; a mahout makes sure an elephant is well-fed

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resources together, Chailert purchased a property north-east of Chiang Mai, and began to operate a sanctuary for injured and abused elephants.

In order to generate income to purchase medicine, employ local mahouts, and buy and grow sufficient fodder — elephants eat upwards of 150kg of plant matter daily, and require more than 100 litres of water — Chailert bravely pioneered an alternative model of elephant tourism that rejects elephant riding and entertainment. At ENP visitors observe the lumbering beasts roaming about freely, learn about their behaviours, and participate in feeding and bathing. “This is not a fairy tale or Disneyland,” she said. “Many people thought our model wouldn’t work … [that] no one would come if they couldn’t ride elephants. But they did, and I proved them wrong.”

Driving from Chiang Mai to ENP, I had noticed billboards advertising elephant tours and treks almost as soon as we left the city. The advertisements became more frequent as I approached Mae Taeng Valley. Yet, thanks to Chailert’s pioneering efforts, the “no ride” conservation approach has become so successful in Chiang Mai that of roughly 1,000 elephants employed in tourism, half now live in camps that follow this ethical model.

In total, around 70 elephants reside at ENP, where locals and refugees from the Karen — an ethnic minority group from eastern Myanmar — are employed as guides and mahouts. A veterinarian is always on site to provide medical care. Up close, the elephants’ eyes revealed sensitivity, softness and perhaps a little sadness. Chailert showed me that many, in fact, had injuries like broken limbs, cuts and scars. Yet they seemed at peace in their small herds,

Stay: Tamarind Village Ancient tamarind trees shade this eco- and culturefriendly hotel in the heart of the old city. Inspired by traditional northern Thai architecture, the peaceful resort curates exhibits on Lanna textiles and arts. tamarindvillage.com

Humans cannot be the only species that get to live in peace

Eat: Kin Lum Vegetarian Finding this hidden gem takes some navigational skills, but you will be justly rewarded with fresh, vegetarian and mostly organic dishes. fb.com/kinlumvegetarian

Shop: Sop Moei Arts In the picturesque Wat Ket Karam neighbourhood, this social enterprise works with Pwo Karen communities from Mae Hong Son province to craft exquisite textiles and homewares. sopmoeiarts.com

Above: Lek Chailert has formed an unbreakable bond with each and every elephant that comes to her sanctuary

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content in their new-found freedom and surroundings.

Like most tourists, I had been thrilled at the prospect of riding an elephant. After a quick lesson in elephant anatomy, however, I had no desire to hop on a mighty pachyderm. “When you support any industry, you have to think about how it comes to be,” Chailert cautioned. Elephant spines suffer severe trauma after years of hauling people and cargo on their backs. A howdah, or the seat fastened to the elephant’s back, can cause excruciating cuts and bruises.

The most harrowing information I received involved an age-old practice called phajaan, a exercise to condition elephants to submit to human will. “Elephants must be trained in order to ride them,” Chailert explained. “This is done by phajaan, which means ‘breaking the spirit’.” The practice requires baby elephants to be tied and restrained for up to a week without food or water. When it’s finally released and fed by his mahout, this establishes the life-long relationship between the two.

As the market for elephant tourism grows, so does the demand for elephants. Poachers routinely

pluck young elephants from the jungles of the Thai-Myanmar border, exacerbating the species’ plight in the wild. Chailert is now focused on taking her model to Myanmar, where she hopes to work with local authorities to cordon off protected areas, thus preventing young elephants from being poached.

Developing alternatives to phajaan is also a focus. Elephants born in camps cannot be released in the wild, and require some acclimatisation to human interactions. Chailert relies on “positive reinforcement” techniques, and nuanced, intuitive care.

Not everyone can sing or bond with elephants like Chailert, but her approach and commitment show that alternatives are possible. The tireless activist’s efforts continue to have a monumental impact in elephant care and conservation. “We can’t be the only species that get to live in peace,” she told me.

“Other species deserve it, too.”

t i g e r a ir f l ie s To Chiang Mai 3 times weekly

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