— Tong Jan —
Tong Jan was born on Feb 14th 2005 at a nearby trekking camp. Her name means ‘Golden Moon’. She arrived at Elephant Nature Park with her mother Mae Bua Tong, on July 1st 2005. Thanks for funding her rescue goes to Olivia Daniel and her parents, and to EleAid (a British charity who transferred the money to Elephant Nature Park).
Olivia came to the Park as a volunteer in April 2005. She fell in love with the work Lek is doing and wanted to help in some way. For her approaching 21st birthday her parents wanted to buy her a car, but she asked them if the money could be used to rescue elephants instead, and they wholeheartedly agreed.
Tong Jan’s mother was sent back to work shortly after she was born, and Tong Jan had no choice but to follow along behind her. She became weak and frail from not enough napping and nursing time. Volunteers on their way to Elephant Haven would always see her mother, foraging for extra food after a hard days trekking, with Tong Jan struggling along behind her. They felt sorry for this duo and told Lek about them. She contacted their owner to see if they could be bought, and found that a deal could be made.
Tong Jan and her mother arrived at Elephant Nature Park after a three hour walk, accompanied by Olivia, other volunteers and Elephant Nature Park staff. Upon arrival there was rumbles and trumpets of excitement from the herd females. Everyone tried to win Tong Jan over, to be chosen as ‘auntie’. After about 3 hours it seemed that Mae Elu and Thai had won the positions. After about a month’s time, Somboon decided she wanted to help raise Tong Jan as well, and took over Mae Elu’s position for a while.
The young Tong Jan has grown to be one of the Park’s greatest success stories. Her mahout patiently applies Lek’s training methods using positive reinforcement each day. Tong Jan is learning all the basic skills of a domestic working elephant (though she will never work a day in her life) through a reward system using bananas. With her mahout’s whole-hearted participation in her training, she is learning fast. Tong Jan is already living proof that elephants can indeed be trained without the need for physical dominance or abuse.
———— Become Tong Jan's Foster Parent ————
 | Tong Jan was born in a trekking camp in 2005 and rescued at 5 months of age with her mum, Mae Bua Tong. As one of the youngest members of the herd, Tong Jan has fast become a star student of our positive reinforcement training. |
Foster Tong Jan for 2 years for 3,750 Thai baht (US $112.99 or UK £72.39)
Foster Tong Jan for 3 years for 5,500 Thai baht (US $165.71 or UK £106.17)
[Learn more about our Foster an Elephant program]
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) |
