The Elephant Whisperer – Documentary, 2012.

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Produced in 2012, this is a documentary that features Lek Chailert, founder of Elephant Nature Park, and covers a wide range of the situations and issues of the Asian elephant today.

The reality is that the Asian elephant is becoming extinct. If we don’t all come to the realization that in little or big ways we can help the ones that are left, our grandchildren or their children will have to visit museums to gasp at an animal that until recently walked this earth.

What will they think of us, their recent ancestors, the ones that allowed the unethical treatment of elephants to continue, and allowed the extinction of them to occur? I, for one, don’t want to find out the answer to that question…

View the documentary here

Chang Yim - young male elephant and all around ratbag. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Chang Yim – young male elephant and all around ratbag. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Elephants on a Young New Zealand Traveler’s Blog – Please Read

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I read this heart-rending post on the blog of a young New Zealand woman. Please read it and other posts on there, and share it around. It’s my wish that every tourist in the world refuses to attend elephant shows and riding parks and makes much more informed and ethical choices in the future. People like this young lady are making it happen.

Read her blog here

Thank you.

One giant step for pachyderm, half a dozen steps for mankind.

One giant step for pachyderm, half a dozen steps for mankind.

A Human Being is a Part of the Whole Universe…

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“A human being is a part of the whole universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

— Albert Einstein

"Our task must be to free ourselves from this by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein. Elephants strolling by at Elephant Nature Park

“Our task must be to free ourselves from this by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Albert Einstein.
Elephants strolling by at Elephant Nature Park

Elephants in the Street and How I Suck as a Westerner and a Tourist

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I am guilty. And I was ignorant. I didn’t know.

This baby is so hungry she tried to latch onto a passing elephant she didn't know to suckle. Photo by Lek Chailert

This baby is so hungry she tried to latch onto a passing elephant she didn’t know to suckle.
Photo by Lek Chailert

I went to India four times before I saw my first real live elephant. At about 2 o’clock in the morning, in Pahar Ganj, a place bustling with people and traffic and street dogs and rubbish. I was so thrilled to finally see one that I didn’t stop to think that the poor thing was probably stressed out by the noise and traffic, and also probably just hanging out to get off the hard tarmac and go to bed. Continue reading →

Life is Far Too Important…

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“Life is far too important to be taken seriously.”

— Oscar Wilde

Playing with Faa Mai. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Playing with Faa Mai. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Pachyderm Banana Hoovers and Buffalo Sludge-Boulders – Day 7 Elephant Nature Park

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Two BFF's at the elephant clinic, Elephant Nature Park.

Two BFF’s at the elephant clinic, Elephant Nature Park.

Jodi had told us that some of the elephants could be drama queens, and on this last day I got to see it for myself. I was lolling about in the dining area having my morning coffee and looking across at the elephant clinic, where there was always an elephant to be seen who lived there on a semi-permanent basis due to her need for ongoing foot treatment, plus another elephant who hung around keeping her company. Every day at ENP I had seen both of them there together. Today something caught my eye – there was only one elephant (Number 1). The more mobile one (Number 2) had gone for a wander around the back. Elephant Number 1 suddenly noticed she was gone and made a hell of an uproar! She started bellowing ‘Come back! Where are you?!’ – presumably in Thai Ele language – and kicking up a right fuss. I spotted the other one come out from around the back, and I actually saw her heave a great sigh. She took her time wandering back to the front of the clinic then trumpeted to Number 1 – ‘All right! Keep yer proboscis on, I’m here!’ They touched trunks and felt each other all over for a little while then settled back into their usual routine of, well, eating. Ah, the trials and tribulations of a BFF relationship. Continue reading →

The Ideal Friendship…

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The ideal friendship is to feel as one while remaining two.

– Sophie Swetchine

Hope and his mahout/minder Korn going for a wander at Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Hope and his mahout/minder Korn going for a wander at Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Look Deep into Nature…

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Look deep into Nature,

and then you will understand everything better.

– Albert Einstein.

Faa Mai. Four years old and one of the happiest elephants in the world. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Faa Mai. Four years old and one of the happiest elephants in the world. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

To See the World in a Grain of Sand…

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To see the world in a grain of sand

And to see Heaven in a wild flower

Hold infinity in the palm of your hands

And eternity in an hour.

– William Blake
Mae Jan Peng (Full Moon) - one of the oldest elephants at Elephant Nature Park. A hole was made in her ear in her harder days previous to her retiring at the Park. Her mahout now puts a fresh flower in it every day to make her feel more beautiful.

Mae Jan Peng (Full Moon) – one of the oldest elephants at Elephant Nature Park. A hole was made in her ear in her harder days previous to her retiring at the Park. Her mahout now puts a fresh flower in it every day to make her feel more beautiful.

The Way to Love Anything…

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The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.

– Gilbert K. Chesterton

Chang Yim - young male elephant and all around ratbag. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Chang Yim – young male elephant and all around ratbag. Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai, Thailand.