Elephant Foundation

I made a visit to the Elephant Foundation, outside Chiang Mai, after Jesse told me it was a really great place. I had thought it was a little expensive, compared with other day activities, but I was soon to learn it would be the best 2,500 Baht I would spend in Thailand.
Lek (Thai for tiny) is a diminutive woman as the name suggests. She grew up in a hill tribe and when she was 5, her grandfather was paid for some work in Elephant. Yes that was one live, fully grown Elephant. He gave his granddaughter the Elephant as a gift, as all good grandfathers do. Lek looked after the Elephant and learned how to take care of it. She developed a keen interest in Elephants. They are an important part of Thai culture and their image is revered countrywide. However for a long time Elephants were used by logging companies to haul heavy loads up rugged terrain. This practise was eventually banned in Thailand, but it is still legal in Myanmar. Disturbed by the mistreatment of Elephants, Lek saved enough money to buy her first abused Elephant. You see even malnourished, traumatised Elephants are worth something to their owners. Lek paid (if memory serves) $1,500 and from there became a committed protector of Elephants. Lek has since managed to buy tens of Elephants and currently has 31 at her Elephant Foundation.

Mud Bath

Lek's Elephant Foundation sits in a lush river valley, surrounded by mountains and forests. She is able to fund the operation by donations from the public, daytrippers like myself and a series of volunteers. A wealthy Texan bought the land for her a few years ago. Lek addressed the group I was with (about 40 tourists) and told us how many people in the past have promised money and then not been able to provide. So when this particular guy said he'd come up with the money, she didn't get too excited.

Bath time for the Elephants

Part of the day, involved helping to feed the Elephants and helping bathe them in the river. We were introduced to the Elephants at feeding time, the first shock was seeing an Elephant who'd been blinded while logging in Myanmar. Apparently she had been pregnant and forced to carry on hauling heavy loads up a mountainside. This eventually led to her loosing her baby, she gave birth at the top of the hill, and the baby fell to the bottom. From that day she refused to work. So her owners stabbed her in the eyes. This is a tactic often used to make Elephants work. It seems crazy and completely counter-productive, but I would continue to hear of this kind of brutality all day.
Another Elephant walked with a terrible limp, the result of standing on a land mine in Myanmar. However they had been forced to carry on working gruelling days, until Lek was able to buy the Elephant. Other Elephants had been rescued from carrying tourists. Elephant trekking is very popular in Thailand, unfortunately few places feed the Elephants enough, or give them enough rest.
Unfortunately no Elephants had been rescued from the streets of Chiang Mai or Bangkok. This is a profitable business, with one Elephant in Bangkok owned by a politician. This makes it even more difficult to get the government to change the laws. At the moment Elephants have no protection as they are classed as livestock. While out for a drink with Jodi and Sarah in a bar in Chiang Mai, an Elephant suddenly appeared from nowhere and charged up to the bar. The owner then fed it. It amazed me that tourists collected around the Elephant (obviously in distress) and took photo's and then paid the handler. If tourists stop supporting this practice then no Elephants would walk the streets. As Elephants have extremely sensitive soles, the vibrations of traffic sends them into a sensory overload.
But all this mistreatment palled, when we viewed footage showing how Elephants are "domesticated" in Thailand. It's an age old practice and any working Elephant will have been put through it.
Babies are taken from their mothers (this will be the first time they have been more than a trunk's distance from them) and forced into what are known as "crushing cages". Just as the name suggests, the Elephants are crushed, with no room to move. Once in place they are stabbed with sticks decorated with nails, and beaten. They are expected to learn to lift their legs and bring their feet down in tiny hoops. This is all while they are confined, can't see their own feet, are terrified and in pain. Female Elephants are kept in this state (the abuse goes on for hours, as every male in the village joins in) for 3 days, until they are broken. Unfortunately it takes 7 days to "break" a male. Sadly the abuse doesn't stop once they are freed from the crusher, they are continually beaten to keep them "in line".
Traditional Thai's believe this is the only way to domesticate a wild Elephant. However Lek has two Elephants at her Foundation who haven't been through this barbaric ritual (they were orphaned), yet they are not a danger. With love and attention Lek has trained them, so they are not a threat, as much as an Elephant can be to a human.

Lek with Hope, who she "domesticated" without any force.

Lek purchased a wild piece of land, know as Elephant heaven, unlike I first imagined this isn't some kind of mass grave, but rather a place the Elephants go for a night out. It's so they can learn about nature, as after all they are no longer wild.
Unfortunately sometimes the mistreatment has become so ingrained, much work must be done to rehabilitate the Elephants. One Elephant was so used to the chain around her leg, when it was removed she wouldn't eat.
Lek has high hopes for the future, she has built relationships with trekking companies, so along with a vet she can check the progress of the working Elephants. It was great to hear her talk and see how one person's actions can make a difference.