— Mae Kham Geao —
Mae Kham Geao is a gentle, quiet, older female who was born around 1953. Her name means 'crystal gold'. She arrived at Elephant Nature Park around the first of October in 2008 for some rest and relaxation, and ended up never having to leave. The funds for her rescue were donated by a lovely English couple named Chris and Susan Arger, who came to the Park on a day visit, heard Mae Kham Geao's story and decided to give the money needed in honor of Susan's birthday.
Mae Kham Geao spent the first half of her life doing the same thing as most other elephants living in Thailand, working in the logging industry. Most likely she was bought and sold many times and her life never had any stability. Her last owners, a Thai-Karen family who brought her to Elephant Nature Park, had her for approximately 3 years. The story as we understood it, goes like this:
Mae Kham Geao was the last of ten elephants that this family had owned over the past forty years. Their last two elephants who had died, had done so recently, perhaps in the last 2 or 3 years, and seemed to die before their time. Possibly as a result of overwork and lack of proper care working in trekking or street begging industries, and could have also been a result of old injuries incurred from their years working in the logging industry. Not sure what was actually wrong with Mae Kham Geao, her owners could see that she was slow, weak and run down. It seemed that her spirit to live had left her. She didn't seem to have the strength to lift her legs to walk. She was like a zombie. They didn't want to suffer any more losses, so they supposedly stopped working her around one and a half years before she came to Elephant Nature Park and kept her in the jungles surrounding their hilltribe village. Even during this time, she didn't seem to make much progress in recovering.
At some point they heard of Lek and Elephant Nature Park and decided to contact the Park to see if Mae Kham Geao could come to stay. This option sounded like the only chance left for her to heal mentally and physically. Lek told them that Mae Kham Geao was welcome to come to the Park and if a mahout/owner came to look after her, Lek would pay them a wage for looking after their own elephant. This is a way for Lek to expose tribal elephant owners to her alternative methods of tourism, training and management in a non-invasive manner. Mae Kham Geao arrived at the Park a bit thin, but otherwise in relatively good condition. It was obvious that she had not worked in a while as she had no recent wounds that would have been inflicted by the 'bull-hook', had she not been obeying her mahout's commands. She appeared to be weak and subdued. For the first two days that she was here, she didn't even flap her ears.
After about four months, Mae Kham Geao was starting to fatten up a bit and the family who collectively owned her were considering their options. If she became healthy, they could possibly use her for work again, as she was by no means considered a 'really old elephant' yet. But thankfully Bila, the mahout/owner who came with her to the Park had a soft spot for her. He could not believe the change that had came over her during her time at Elephant Nature Park so far. He had never seen her so happy. During the years that he and his family had owned her, Bila had never felt that he had gotten to know her, but during the months that they stayed here together, Bila said he had finally connected with her. He knew she was slow and a bit stubborn and too gentle for the working life again. She would have to be constantly hit and screamed at to keep her moving and it would be a miserable existence for her. Seeing how content Mae Kham Geao was at the Park, Bila asked Lek if she would be interested in buying her, but his family wanted to sell her to someone who was interested in using her for street begging, and they were offering more money than Lek could pay. Bila could not agree with the rest of his family's decision to sell her to someone who wanted to work her in street begging. They all wanted the higher selling price. Wanting to make sure that Mae Kham Geao would be truly happy, Bila told his family that they could deduct from his share so that they could all have more money, he just wanted her to get to stay at the Park.
From here we fast forward to Chris and Susan Arger who were at the Park on a day visit and heard Mae Kham Geao's story from one of our Park guides, and the story ends with a happily ever after. Mae Kham Geao has settled in well but she is a bit shy of other elephants and keeps to herself. She has a lovely, gentle personality, and enjoys being bathed in the river by visitors and volunteers. Whichever she chooses, to stay by herself or join up with another female or a family group, we hope that she enjoys her early retirement of R&R at Elephant Nature Park. We are happy that she could join us.
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 |
