The rainy season is in full swing, and the valley that nestles Elephant Nature Park is lush and green. The surrounding mountains are a riot of bamboo, creepers, and a variety of insects—some of which are alarmingly huge for the visiting Westerners' taste.

And speaking of taste, some of the larger insects are considered quite tasty by the Park's resident mahouts.

Rainy Season at Elephant Nature Park

There is no shortage of succulent grasses for the eles to munch on, and no shortage of mud to slather on their bodies for their daily skin-care rituals. No need for a mud pit in this season: the Park is a mud pit! All human residents and visitors can be seen wearing the seasonal fashion: rubber gumboots and plastic rain ponchos in a rainbow of colors. Umbrellas are a must on the morning elephant walks for the overnight visitors, as a drenching shower can break at any time. It can be frustrating, yes, but there is something amazing about the experience of walking with elephants through the jungle mountains in the rain. The patter of the rainfall on the leaves, the sharp cracking sound of bamboo snapping, and large ears flapping contentedly while the eles are happily munching in their natural habitat all around you... it is truly magical.

Mother Nature can have a wicked sense of humor sometimes, and this time of year is one of them. A typical morning can start with rain, then change to sunshine until just about the time to take the day visitors to the river to wash the elephants directly after lunch. Usually this is the time Mother Nature chooses to give us a torrential downpour. But chilly winds and heavy downpours can't dampen the spirits of the excited visitors waiting to wash their first elephant ever. (The elephants probably wonder why we are even bothering to go to the river, since they have showered already.) The most ironic part of this weather schedule is that by the time we have made it back to the main hut, the visitors feeling soggy but fulfilled, the clouds inevitably disperse and the sunshine returns. It never fails!

The Park has been lucky enough to have endured only one major storm so far (back in late May) and this storm actually had no rain, just some amazingly heavy winds (like nothing most of the Thai staff had ever seen before). There was some damage: Tong Jan's family's sleeping shelter was blown down, and the new shelter for Mae Mai, Medo, and Mae Loi had its roof blown off. There was also some roof damage to some of the visitor and residents huts, all the showcases in the gift shop were blown over and the glass shattered, and a large tree was blown down—thankfully not near anything that it could fall on, but losing any tree is always a sad thing.

The storm came on quickly around 4:30 in the afternoon, so the eles were not yet in their shelters. The last trip to the river was cancelled and all settled in to wait it out. Thankfully no animal or human was injured, and all fared well. Let us hope that the spirits of the land protect us, Mother Nature smiles down on us, and we get through the rest of this rainy season with as little damage as possible.

June and July Mahouts of the Month

The Mahout of the Month Medo Award incentive program has been started thanks to funding from Park supporter Nancy Abraham of the Alexander Abraham Foundation. The mahout who is chosen for this title is given a bonus of 3,000 Thai baht and recognition for a job well done.

We are pleased to announce that our Mahouts of the Month for June and July are Yesu (Tong Jan's mahout) and Lepo (Mae Perm's mahout).

Yesu has been working at Elephant Nature Park for over two years, taking care of Tong Jan and her mother Mae Bua Tong. He actually arrived with the pair when they started their new life at the Park. Sometimes when a mahout comes with a new elephant, we are a bit worried—there are cases when the mahout cannot adapt to Lek's ways of training and general philosophy on how elephants should be treated. Thankfully this was not the case with Yesu, who ended up becoming one of the Park's best mahouts. He is totally devoted to the pair and has trained Tong Jan beautifully using the positive reinforcement training methods. He is very consistent, making sure that she has nightly training sessions. At only 2½ years old, Tong Jan is a very smart young lady who can perform all the commands asked of her, thanks to Yesu's attention and hard work.

Yesu is gentle and even-tempered, and is friendly and affectionate with all of the other animals who live at the Park. He is a good role model for the younger mahouts to look up to. We are proud to have him as one of our staff.

Lepo (Mae Perm's mahout) has been working at the Park for about a year. He has a quiet, gentle, easygoing manner. Like Yesu, he is kind to all of the animals at the Park. Mae Perm is always one of the first elephants to be wandering freely each morning, along with her friend Jokia. Lepo works well with others and is always willing to help out with the other elephants in Mae Perm's family group. His calm manner has allowed him to be able to handle Hope (our rambunctious 6½-year-old) quite well, which is necessary since Mae Perm is one of Hope's aunties and Hope is part of the family group. Lepo is very patient in the river during bath time with Mae Perm and allows the visitors to scrub as long as they like. In fact, Mae Perm is often one of the last elephants to leave the river every night. We are very happy to have him on our staff at Elephant Nature Park.

Ele Gossip

The hormones are raging and there has been a lot of action at the Park in the past few months. As our Park guides mention in their presentation with the day visitors, it's a real soap opera!

Mae Bua Tong, the lovely mother of Tong Jan, went into estrus again in mid-June, wreaking havoc with the Park's males. Khum Min and Pu Pah have been vying for her time, both looking to be "the best man for the job." Max, the grand old man who is usually quite composed and laid back, has even been asserting his seniority and trying to get in on the act. He and Khum Min had a bit of a tussle over Bua Tong that resulted in Khum Min being shoved through the fencing at the main hut and landing in the garden.

As a result of these antics, everyone realized that Max was unexpectedly going into musth. He is now confined to his one-man bachelor pad with his testosterone levels peaking; Mae Mai once again refuses to leave his side, despite all of the female admirers paying him a visit. It is hoped that this will be a very short musth period for Max, and that once everything settles down Max's musth symptoms will fade away as well.

Mae Nuan (a female who is staying at the Park on "maternity leave") hasn't really bonded with any one since her arrival and is a bit wary of the other elephants. She usually stays off by herself, and ventures up to the main hut when the other eles are on the morning walk or out grazing in the fields.

Recently she has become rather fixated on young Aura, Mae Boon's daughter. Mae Nuan seems to have fallen completely in love with her and follows her everywhere. Whether this is a just a passing phase or a lasting relationship, we will have to wait and see. It would be nice if a friendship could grow between Mae Nuan and Aura's auntie, Mae Dta Keow. That way, when her baby arrives Mae Nuan would have a friend to be auntie to her little one. Mae Dta Keow is also a bit of a loner, and only hangs out with Mae Boon and Aura. It could be a good thing for both girls if they became companions.

One Year Anniversary of Medo's Arrival

Medo, our most severely handicapped elephant (who has became quite well-known since her arrival), celebrated her one year anniversary of starting her new life at Elephant Nature Park at the end of June 2006. There is no shortage of elephants out there in need of being rescued, but Medo was one elephant that truly deserved to be freed from her life of cruelty and exploitation. She has been put through so much in her young life (you can read Medo's bio for more details on her past) and has somehow survived, thankfully to enjoy a future of freedom and relaxation as part of our herd at the Park.

Before Medo arrived, she had been working alone in a remote village with no other elephants for companionship for quite some time. When she first saw all the elephants at the Park, the desire for socialization came back and she started scouting for a possible friend. In the end Medo teamed up with Mae Mai, who had just lost her good friend Mae Tong Bai. All seemed to be going well for a while, Medo and Mae Mai spent most of their days down by the river. Medo would sometimes rest laying down on the sloping bank while Mae Mai kept watch over her. Max took to hanging out with the two girls and the three seemed to get along happily.

As November approached, Max started showing signs that he was going into musth. He would be chained for the duration of his musth period for the obvious safety reasons. Once this occurred, Mae Mai refused to leave Max's side—for the whole 2½ months! This kind of disrupted the schedule Medo had grown used to. Her new friend decided that this male in musth was more interesting than she was! At first Medo didnt know what to do. She was desperate for this newfound companionship, but yet the smell of a male in musth brought back horrible memories. She was afraid to approach Max's area, but Mae Mai wouldn't budge.

Medo did finally go to Mae Mai and Max, and soon learned that Max was not aggressive and had no interest in her. With no reason to feel threatened, Medo would spend part of her days in their company, but she soon got bored just standing around Max. She went through a time of being a bit of a loner again during those few months, and spent a lot of time in the fields at the back of the Park by the lychee plantation. Medo seemed content, but we hoped she would start to socialize more.

As Max's musth period came to an end, the big question at the Park was whether Mae Mai's fixation with Max would fade or not. Medo waited patiently to see if life would return to normal. Mae Mai did remain focused on Max, but Medo is welcome to accompany them on their daily activities and is never shunned (with elephants three is not a crowd), so every morning the two girls set off together in search of Max.

Soon a new shelter was built up by the main hut and Medo and Mae Mai's sleeping area was moved to this new location. This was a positive move for Medo as she is feeling a lot more comfortable spending time up at the main hut and is starting to socialize with some of the other elephants as well. Also this allows our visitors to see and meet Medo more easily: many people are moved by her physical condition and want to hear her story and give her some positive energy and affection.

Medo is truly a survivor and has come a long way in adapting to her new life at Elephant Nature Park. It is so nice to see her interacting with other elephants and feeling confident in her surroundings. Happy Anniversary, Medo. We're so happy you have a safe place to call home.

Copyright © 2007 Elephant Nature Foundation. All rights reserved.