— Mae Bua Loy —
Mae Bua Loy was born around 1978 and her name means "floating lotus." She was spotted at the Surin Elephant Round-up in November of 2008. The funds were made available for her rescue thanks to Singer Rankin (who was along with Lek for this trip to Surin) and the World Women Work foundation. Mae Bua Loy started her new life at Elephant Nature Park in Late November of 2008, and took no time in settling right in to a family group.
As far as we know, she originally came from Mae Sariang in Mae Hong Son province, in the northwest of Thailand. Her mother was probably a logging elephant, but it is hard to know where or how most elephants began their lives, and the stories can change each time you ask their potential seller about their histories.
Logging was banned in 1989 in Thailand, so it was a bad time to have a young elephant, there wasn't much work in the years that followed. Most owners resorted to illegal logging, which is a dangerous trade for teenage elephants without proper training, also no trade regulations or safety guidelines. Mae Bua Loy was forced to pull heavy teak logs and in improper conditions, without adequate training, she was injured in a work accident, breaking her back, right leg severely.
After healing, it was obvious that her life of heavy labor was over, she walked like a "peg-legged sailor," her leg could not bend at all. She would never have to carry tourists on her back and could never pull logs again. In some ways it could seem to be a "blessing in disguise." Her owner decided to sell her to someone from the Surin province. Most elephants from Surin end up street begging in Bangkok, as there is no tourism in Surin. An elephant with a previous injury creates a high sympathy factor and often generates more income, but in Mae Bua Loy's case, most people just complained to the mahout/owner constantly, asking how he could possibly have the heart to work an elephant in her condition. Finally, he tired of hearing all of the criticism and took her back to Surin, this time with other ideas in mind.
Often times female elephants with serious injuries that prevent them from doing normal work are forced into 'breeding programs' where their job is to get pregnant and produce babies that will be torn away from them at an early age and sold into slavery, so that the mother can once again be impregnated and the cycle can be repeated endlessly, as long as she is fertile. It is a miserable existence for a female elephant and she can be chained up for months at a time, as was Mae Bua Loy's case.
Upon returning to Surin, she became pregnant and gave birth 18-22 months later as is the norm. This began a short period of happiness for Mae Bua Loy, she loved her baby more than anything, and just wanted to focus on being a mother, but her owner was impatient, and wanted her to get pregnant again. He first tried to mate her with a male approaching musth while she was still nursing her baby. When she failed to get pregnant, her owner sold her calf away from her, thinking that with no baby to suckle she would start her ovulation cycle again, but Mae Bua Loy was depressed, and wanted nothing to do with male elephants. Finally, the owner resorted to drastic measures and kept her chained for 3 months solid next to a male in musth. She was forcibly mated with this male 29 times within this time frame and did not become pregnant. Disgusted, her owner decided to sell her and she ended up at the Surin Elephant Round-up, where fate would change her life.
The Surin Elephant Round-up is a national elephant festival celebrating the importance of the elephant in Thai culture and history. It is held at the end of November, in the capital city of Surin, in the Surin province. Each year, there are many elephants present at the festival of various ages and physical condition ready to be bought and sold, Lek goes to this festival every year to document the condition and treatment of the elephants present, and usually returns home with an elephant who was in dire need of a new home and a new life.
Upon arrival at Elephant Nature Park, Mae Bua Loy gazed upon Tong Tae, a young bull here on maternity leave with his mother, Mae Tong Dee and knew that caring for him would help to heal her broken heart. She was immediately accepted in to this family group and became Tong Tae's number one auntie. She has settled in quite well and seems very happy with her life as part of a family group, enjoying her days caring for a baby, and just being an elephant.
To learn more about the histories and personalities of our elephants, please click on any of the links below.
— Gone But Not Forgotten —
Sadly, some elephants come to the Park not as permanent members of our herd, but only as temporary guests. We do all that we can in order to purchase them from their owners so that they never have to leave, but in some cases we are not successful. These elephants have been taken back by their owners and are sorely missed.
 Mae Boon and Aura |  Mae Elu |  Mae Toh Koh and Pupia |
 Phu Pa |
— In Loving Memory —
These beloved members of our herd have passed away, but they will live forever in our hearts and minds.
 Boon Khum (BK) |  Khum Min |  Mae Bia |
 Mae Mai |  Maximus (Max) |  RaRa |
 Ratree |
