An overview of our Rescues and other Projects
All the rescues and projects below are set out in chronological order and the reports were written at the time of the rescue - times change, babies grow up so for day to day stories of the adventures of our babies please check John's Rambling Elephant Blog.
Nong Pleum : Plai Tawan : Outreach Programmes : Nong Dah : Poon Larb and Lynchee : Nam Chok & Pumpui : Adopt a Vet : Lamyai & Meena : Makam & Nam Khong : Moskva, Musa & Riga : Manau: Sakura
Pang Kam Sao (Nong Pleum)
I met this baby in the early evening on Soi 7, in the heart of Bangkok, she was with three people (only one of them a mahout) and making them a little money by selling small sticks of sugar cane which she then greedily ate.
In the next month she and her mahout were arrested four times by the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre's elephant rescue team and moved out of the city limits - the extent of their powers. When thrown out Bangkok they went to Pattaya, when thrown out of Pattaya they came back to Bangkok in a never ending cycle.
The
mahout finally agreed to bring her up to us so now she'd living with us,
her mahout and owner, Khun Lord, is happy to be settled, able to live
with his wife and to give Kam Sao a good home - he is a conscientious
mahout who really does care for his elephant but really could think of
no other alternative to look after an elephant to which he is very emotionally
attached, his wife Khun Nang, still wells up with tears whenever she thinks
about separation from her beloved Nong Pleum.
Undoubtedly,
we have been lucky to find two such dedicated elephant owners on our first
try (the children in charge of the Asok/Sukhumvit 7 month old seem to
have no such attachment) but they have promised to help us find and rescue
others from the streets.
Khun Lord, Khun Nang and Nong Pleum have agreed to stay with us in camp for the foreseeable future!
Pleum Update - April 2008
Nong Pleum is still with us and is now getting close to being an adult elephant, she is now cared for by Lung Lord's son-in-law, K. Sompong - who's daughter is also called Pleum.
Pleum occasionally helps with the mahout training as she is now old, strong and responsible enough to do so - any guest revenue comes to the Foundation so not only by being the first rescue, by being a steadying influence on our other rescues, particularly Tawan and Dah in the early days, she is now able to raise money for the other babies too..
Lung Lord is now our chief mahout and successfully looks after the interests of all our Surin elephants, babies and rescues.
Pleum Links
