— Taa Raa (Jarunee) —
In late November of 2007 an older, run down, female elephant arrived at Elephant Nature Park. Her name was Jarunee and she was born somewhere around the year 1954. The funds for her rescue came from numerous generous, good-hearted people when an emergency fundraising plea went out so that a young elephant in distress (Faa Sai) found at the Surin elephant round-up could be bought. So many individuals responded to the plea for donations, that there was enough left over to rescue a second elephant, and Jarunee ended up being that lucky elephant. Lek renamed her Taa Raa which means 'sacred river', but Jarunee is what she responds to.
Due to lack of records, not a lot is known about Jarunee, but even without documentation on paper, the scars that cover Jarunee's body tell quite a story. Despite the obvious signs of cruelty she has endured throughout her life, she is a calm elephant with a very gentle nature. When Jarunee first arrived, as was customary, she was taken out in to the main area of the Park where under the supervision of the mahouts, she could meet the elephants already residing at Elephant Nature Park. As one of our most socially confident eles approached her, it became evident that Jarunee was actually quite shy when it came to socializing with other elephants. She turned around and started running in the opposite direction! As we never force the elephants into social situations where they don't feel comfortable, we allowed Jarunee to choose her friends at her own speed. The first elephant that she became friendly with was Jungle Boy. Being a young elephant, Jarunee wasn't afraid of him when he started showing an interest in spending time with her, and they developed a relationship where she became a part time auntie to the young tusker. Jarunee's gentle, accomodating, nurturing manner was a welcome change for Jungle Boy from his overbearing, domineering auntie, Mae Keow. The pair spent many mornings together, but Jungle Boy is always moving about, and no firm bonds were formed.
As Jarunee settled in, she decided her comfort zone was up in the front corner of the Park, away from the confident family groups who spent most of their time in the main area of the Park, near the feeding platform. There are a few other females who share the same shy, reserved personality as Jarunee who also feel safer staying on the sidelines, and we hoped as time passed that Jarunee would possibly become friends with one of them. At the time of this writing, Jarunee has been living at Elephant Nature Park for just over one year, and only over the past few months has a wonderful breakthrough occurred; she and Mae Geao have become friends and both ladies are currently part of a family group including a leased mother, Mae Boonchu and her baby, Tong Kham. Once Jarunee got over her shyness with Mae Boonchu, she quickly became quite attached to both her and her baby and has assumed the number one auntie position. This has been a wonderful opportunity for Jarunee to open up a bit and we hope that being in this family group gives her more confidence in future social situations.
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) |  Mae Bia |  Mae Mai |
 Maximus (Max) |
