The release of two elephants back to the forest on Earth Day is already something to celebrate.  But the planning for this wonderful achievement this week has been ushered in by something even more special than we could have hoped for.

We are thrilled to announce to the world on this Earth Day the birth of a baby elephant to the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation in the Sublangka wildlife sanctuary!

This is a world first. To the best of our knowledge, it’s the first time an elephant has been born in restored wild forest habitat from previously captive elephant parents who have been reintroduced to the wild.  And, it is the first birth in the ten years of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation’s work!

The new baby elephant is a healthy, confident little female.  Her mother, Pang Jarunee, formally a tourist elephant from Surin, is approximately twenty years old and was reintroduced to the wild in the Sublangka sanctuary about five years ago.  Although still not conclusive, it’s possible that the father is Plai Chumpol, a 40-year old bull elephant who has lived at the Sublangka sanctuary for about six years.  And in keeping with the tradition of “firsts” for this special occasion, it is Jarunee’s first baby.  An elephant’s pregnancy lasts 22 to 24 months and can have many complications.   But as a first-time mother Jarunee’s maternal instincts have clicked in and she’s been doing everything right to make sure her baby has all the nurturing she needs.

The baby elephant was born at 3AM on April 17.  The ERF field staff were on standby in the forest to observe the birth and make sure everything went smoothly and the baby was healthy.  Within ten minutes the baby was standing on wobbly legs and made her way over to mum to get her first sip of milk.  Within the first five hours she was walking and exploring her new forest world and by the afternoon mother Jarunee coaxed her into the creek for her first bath.  Afterwards the little one took her first nap.

The baby elephant has yet to be named.  Her auspicious birth has the Foundation directors awaiting the naming by HM Queen Sirikit of Thailand  in honor of this first and special occasion of this little elephant coming into the world.

But our Earth Day elephant news doesn’t end here!  Also on this day two of the elephants that we have been filming over these past months at the Sublangka sanctuary, Nong-Mai and Pompam, are having a “reintroduction ceremony”.   Although Nong-Mai and Pompam have been roaming free in the forest for over one year, they have been closely monitored to ensure that they have readapted to the wild forest habitat.  As in the case with all the elephants that are reintroduced by the ERF in the forest sanctuaries, there is a step-by-step process of observation that each elephant undergoes before they are ready to be fully reintroduced back to the wild.  The duration for this process depends on several factors including the individual elephant’s health condition, behavior, and ability to socialize with other elephants.

 Nong-Mai who is about seven years old and Pompam, in her twenties,  bonded very early in their re-adaptation process (see earlier blog here). Today the ceremony at the Sublangka sanctuary celebrates their successful reintroduction to the wild.   It is also an opportunity for the Foundation to honor its sponsors who support their work to help elephants return to the forest. Buddhist monks and Brahmin are visiting the sanctuary to bless Nong-Mai and Pompam and pray to the nature spirits to protect these two elephants and the other creatures that live in this vast forest.

It’s a treasure to be witnessing first-hand these achievements for the conservation of Asian elephants. The successful birth of this baby elephant demonstrates that we can give back to nature by reintroducing elephants to the wild so that they can once again thrive in a natural habitat.  This not only helps to conserve a healthy forest ecosystem, but also to replenish the endangered population of Asian elephants.  It is an important message of hope for the future of Asian elephants, not only in Thailand but throughout the world.

Please share in our celebration by watching this new elephant baby in an exclusive series of clips documenting the first hours of her life. Follow the story on Facebook and Twitter too!

Watch the elephant baby’s first steps

Watch the elephant baby’s first sips

Watch the elephant baby’s first swim

Watch the elephant baby’s first snooze

]]> http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?feed=rss2&p=780 5 http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=766 http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=766#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:20:44 +0000 admin http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=766 Despite the serious threats to elephants, there is some hopeful news too.

Here’s a positive solution and good model for how Asian elephants can be saved.   Check out our latest video clip that shows how life is for elephants when they’re free in the forest.

These are some of the elephants who were once captive and have been released back to the wild in Thailand by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation.  No mahouts, no chains, no tourists – just elephants roaming free in vast protected  forest habitat.   You can see their natural behaviours, social communication, mud-bathing, foraging and playing – elephants really being elephants.   It’s a pleasure to see them this way – just the way elephants ought to be.

Help us increase our followers and spread the word by liking and sharing our story updates on  Facebook and Twitter too!

These are troubled times in the land of elephants.  Back in early January, the Thai and international press reported on the alarming and tragic poaching of wild elephants from the Kaeng Krachan National Park in west Thailand, the country’s largest national park, which borders Myanmar. What has evolved since is confusion, contradiction, misinformation, the arrests of poachers and wildlife officers, the investigations of elephant camps around the country including two internationally renowned sanctuaries, the confiscation of twenty-six elephants, and the recent news that one of those confiscated elephants has died.

 This isolated incident may seem small when compared to the increasing number of elephants and other wildlife being massacred worldwide.  An insatiable demand for ivory in Asia has led to an unprecedented surge of elephant poaching throughout Africa.  And while we hope that at least some endangered Asian elephants, the females and tusk-less males, might be spared from the hunt for ivory, new reports show different.  For it’s not only ivory that has value in the black market.  Elephant meat and baby elephants are also on the poachers’ list.  No wild elephant is safe.  Not even in the protected national parks as is this recent case in Thailand.

Elephants are an important animal in Thailand, traditionally, spiritually and economically.  They are a national icon and, for better or worse, play a significant role in the tourism industry.  It  is for this very reason that the business of elephants ranks high in the national psyche and why the present controversy has had unsettling reverberations throughout the country.  The issues surrounding elephants in Thailand are complex and with so many different stakeholders pitted against each other it is very difficult to get straight answers.  Unfortunately the business of elephants is deeply mired in politics, legal loopholes, and profiteering.

There is a Thai law originally drafted in 1939 called the Draught Animal Act. The law and its ramifications are complex but very basically it requires all domesticated elephants must be registered by their owners with an ID card when they are eight years old.    The registration law was developed during the time that elephants were used heavily in the logging industry.  Logging was banned in Thailand in 1990 and the commercial use for elephants shifted to the tourism industry.   As the demands for Asian elephants have increased in the tourism trade, both within Thailand and other countries, so has the need for elephants.  But elephants don’t breed easily or quickly and in order to meet the demand they are captured from the wild to replenish the captive stock. This is against the law in Thailand and internationally.  Baby elephants are the target, captured and sold into the tourist trade where they fetch a high price.   By the time these wild-caught illegal elephants reach eight years old, if the owner even bothers to get registration papers they are either forged, purchased or passed on from registered elephants who have died.  Although this law has been in place for decades, loopholes have enabled people to take advantage of the system which has proven to be profitable for a handful of business people who deal in elephants.

So why the crackdown at this time?

When the poaching incident hit the news it was rumored that some wildlife officers were likely in on the deal.  It was very difficult to find out exactly how many elephants were killed.  The early reports were confusing – some said six elephants were killed, although the official report says two.  Initially, it was said that the elephants were poached for their tusks – but then later reported that their trunks, tails and sexual organs were sold to restaurants who cater to “foreign” customers.  To date, the consumption of elephant meat in restaurants in Thailand has not been verified.  Eventually poachers and wildlife officers were arrested. It was later reported that not only were the elephants killed for their various parts, but baby elephants were snatched from their mothers – who were likely killed in the process  – to be sold into a ring whose business is to train, sell and distribute wild-caught baby elephants into the tourist trade, a very lucrative  business that has been going on in Thailand for years, which many people have known but few have done anything about.

 Enter Damroch Pidech, Chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Park Conservation (DNP).  In reaction to the scandal, he publicly pledged to do something about the poaching and illegal trade of elephants.  A nation-wide campaign was launched to investigate the origins of all captive elephants by enforcing the 1939 registration law, an effort that requires the cooperation and coordination between three government Ministries – not an easy feat in any country.

 By the end of January reports started coming out about the illegal trade of wild-caught baby elephants from Thailand’s national parks and the wilds of Myanmar into the tourist business, with allegations of collaboration between officials and business operators – a so-called “elephant mafia”.  Two of Thailand’s most out-spoken elephant and animal rights activists, Sangduen ‘Lek’ Chailert, and Edwin Wiek distributed press releases internationally about this activity.  Shorty afterwards, their sanctuaries, Elephant Nature Park (ENP), and Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand (WFFT) respectively, were raided by the DNP officers.  Reportedly ninety-nine animals, various species of rescued wildlife, were confiscated from WFFT on the grounds that the organization did not have the correct paperwork, while demands were made for the registration documents that were missing for eight of the thirty-five elephants owned by ENP.    The social media around these incidents went viral and followers worldwide witnessed video clips of monkeys, gibbons and other animals being yanked from their cages and carted off by wildlife officers, while a small army of foreign volunteers passionately protested outside the gates of ENP in Chiangmai as government officers made three visits to the park and threatened to confiscate eight elephants unless the complete registration papers were presented.

What has ensued since has been international outcry, largely fueled by press releases by ENP and WFFT who claim that they were singled out in the investigations. Although they may not have had the chance to get their paperwork in order when the officers unexpectedly came to their doors, they claim that they have been targeted because they publicly spoke out about the corruption and wild-capture of baby elephants sold into the elephant business.  In the latest reports, the elephants at ENP have not been confiscated, although tragically two of the gibbons taken from WFFT have died. This has certainly brought a lot of international attention to the issues in Thailand at present. But in the drama that has surrounded the emotionality of this outcry, the importance and potential benefits of this nation-wide shakedown have been overlooked.

 It has not only been these activist’s sanctuaries that have been raided in Thailand.  From Phuket in the south, to Kanchanaburi in the west, to Chiangmai in the north and the northeastern province of Surin – considered to be the hub of the elephant trade business -  elephant camps are being inspected by DNP officers.

 At this time of writing, 26 elephants without registration papers have been confiscated and impounded at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC), a government-run facility and elephant hospital.   At the March 13th National Elephant Day symposium in Bangkok,  the DNP Chief estimated that 10% of the captive elephants in Thailand are not registered.  Exact numbers of elephants in Thailand are not easy to confirm but the numbers range between 1,200 wild elephants and 3,000 captive elephants. This suggests that there are approximately 300 elephants in captivity that are wild-caught  from the national park jungles or captured and purchased in Myanmar and smuggled into Thailand to be resold.  The DNP Chief estimates twenty to thirty wild baby elephants are smuggled into the Thailand tourist trade per year – some elephant conservationists and NGOs estimate more than one hundred.

 As DNP officials continue to make their way around the countryside searching for un-registered elephants, the confiscation has created a major challenge for the veterinarians and mahouts whose job it is to care for the elephants now arriving at TECC.  There were already some eighty elephants in residence at TECC as members of its elephant program.  With the arrival of the new elephants now in federal custody comes the need for more facilities, food, water, and more mahouts.  Properly trained mahouts are difficult to find in Thailand.  In many villages it is a dying tradition, and many of these mahouts do not want to leave their homes in the rural areas to work in a government facility.  For those who take the job, they need time to get to know the new elephant they are to care for – and for the elephant to trust and accept their new mahout.   Most of the confiscated elephants have come from the Sai Yok Elephant Park in Kanchanaburi, and some from  Phuket.  Upon arrival at TECC, the elephants underwent a series of medical tests.  Fifteen of the elephants were found to be unhealthy.  Some were admitted into the Elephant Hospital; the others put into quarantine.  At this time of writing one of the lead veterinarians at TECC has confirmed that eight elephants have tested positive in the screening process for a chronic respiratory disease, two have tested positive with a tetanus infection, and one of those elephants with tetanus has died.

 Although the tourist camp owner of this deceased 17 year-old female elephant insists that she was not properly cared for at TECC, the tests and photos taken at the time of her arrival show otherwise.  The veterinarian team states that all fifteen elephants were in poor health before they got there.  Tetanus has a long incubation period and the likelihood that these two elephants already had the infection is very high.  The other tetanus infected elephant  is presently being treated and recovering.  Although one elephant’s life has tragically been lost, this other elephant who is now under proper care at TECC may have a chance to survive.

 Most people working with elephants in Thailand believe it is high time that the registration laws be enforced.   What is questionable in the present shakedown process is the methodology undertaken.  Does it make sense to confiscate and impound elephants when considering the costs, logistics, and risks to the elephants to be moved?  Perhaps only in the cases where the elephants are not properly cared for.  Although there is the law for elephant registration, there are no laws to enforce proper elephant care nor to prevent cruelty.  Domesticated elephants are the private property of their owners who can do with the elephant whatever they choose.

 At present, Thailand has its work cut out for itself to get its elephant business in order. No new rules have been passed as of yet but there are a lot of plans. The search for un-registered elephants is linked with the plan to create a DNA database of all the wild elephants in the forests. Any elephant without registration papers will be considered wild.  All domesticated elephants are to be registered from the time they are babies with more detailed physical descriptions, micro-chipped and DNA recorded.  The plan is that this comparative database would make it possible to tell the difference between wild and domesticated elephants thus preventing wild elephants to be smuggled into captivity.   Meanwhile, in the background are the on-going and complex discussions about the need to create new laws for elephants that would put them in a category all their own, and ensure their proper care.

 Yet amid the drama, the planning, and the investigations it’s the fate of the beloved elephants that is really at stake.  In our work here as filmmakers we are trying to make sense of this situation and more importantly tell its story.  For within this country we see the heart of the human-elephant relationship, a nation that is filled with good people with diverse points of view trying to save its elephants in a climate of socio-political change. At the centre of all these challenges is the love that the Thai people have for elephants.  Where else can an elephant rank as a Royal officer, or have a national holiday designated in its honor, or once be featured on the national flag?

 The world is running out of elephants, both in the wild and in captivity.  In Thailand it’s estimated that overall the population is decreasing by 3.5% per year – which means that in 30 years there will be no elephants left in the land of elephants.   We can only hope that these efforts underway will help Thailand take care of its elephant business, not only as a nation that loves elephants but for the world that loves elephants too.

This story has also been posted in  Life as a Human .  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more story updates.

Pang Somjai was a former tourist elephant from Surin province who came to live at the Doi Phamuang sanctuary national forest as part of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation’s program to reintroduce captive elephants to wild forest habitat.  This protected area is over 72,000 hectares (178,000 acres) and is home to twenty-eight released elephants.  Pang Somjai joined the program in 2008 and spent the last three and a half years of her life as a free-roaming elephant living with the other released elephants in the forest.

In Thailand it is customary for a monk to perform a funeral ceremony to pray for the spirit of the elephant for a safe journey to heaven.  Flowers and gifts are offered to accompany the elephant’s spirit.  The ceremony for Pang Somjai was also attended by the Foundation field staff and Pang Tukta and Pang Duh, two other Foundation elephants who were being cared for near the field camp.  The two elephants touched and smelled Pang Somjai’s body, perhaps to pay their respects.  Afterwards they returned to the forest.

This was the first time that I have attended an elephant’s funeral.  It was a moving experience to witness such respect and reverence for this magnificent creature, who was fortunate to have lived the last days of her life wandering free in the forest, ideally the way all elephants ought to be.  Here’s a film clip from the ceremony for Pang Somjai.

]]> http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?feed=rss2&p=723 0 http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=717 http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=717#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:37:54 +0000 Ashley http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=717 The elephants released by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation roam freely in over 20,000 hectares (52,000 acres) of natural forest in the Sublangka wildlife sanctuary. You would think that looking for an elephant would be easy when considering their size, but one of our biggest challenges was actually finding them. Elephants are perfectly camouflaged in the forest environment, and surprisingly they move quickly and quietly. They’re preoccupied with eating because not only do Asian elephants have to eat 300 kg/day, they are a keystone species and essential for healthy forests in Asia. 

Their role in the forest ecosystem is like a gardener. They take care of the forest by clearing the bush, making corridors for other animals, digging for water in times of drought, and spreading the seeds of the plants they eat through their dung, which they disperse in the areas that they roam. Sometimes we followed the elephants’ trails for a several hours. The skill of the rangers was remarkable to witness as they are able to distinguish between the individual elephants by keen observation and correlations of their tracks through the forest.

Here is a video clip showing some of the obstacles we encountered during our filming – and a few of the elephants we met along the way.

Although the reasons for this situation are complex and in some cases reflect a social condition for these people whose livelihoods are attached to elephants, sadly it is the elephants who ultimately suffer for they are subjected to conditions in the urban environment that are potentially very harmful for them. Although street begging with elephants is technically illegal, it is difficult to enforce. Some cities such as Bangkok and Chiangmai have tried to ban street-begging with elephants although it still occurs in the smaller cities and suburban areas throughout the country.  While the big picture reasons may not be easy to readily fix, speaking out on behalf of the elephants will hopefully bring awareness to this issue that will lead to healthy solutions for both the elephants, and the mahouts.

In our Elephants Never Forget story, we follow the lives of these mahouts and their elephants, from their home villages to the city streets.  Here’s a clip from one of our research interviews with the leader of this group titled “Behind the Scenes- City Elephants”.   Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more story updates.   Don’t forget to share with your friends too!

This is where our story begins.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more story updates.

]]> http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?feed=rss2&p=663 2 http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=643 http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=643#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:38:11 +0000 admin http://elephantsneverforget.ca/blog2/?p=643 Amidst the grunting, sweating and toil of climbing up the mountain trail with backpacks full of cameras and tripods, the TV theme song from “Gilligan’s Island” starts running through my head.  It’s not because we’re anywhere near a boat, or water.  It’s because I’m beginning to feel like we’re on the proverbial “three-hour tour”.  What was supposed to be a short hike up the mountain in pursuit of a great view shot has turned into a major expedition, due to the steepness of the trail, weight of the gear, and the heat.  It could also be because we’re really tired.  We’re nearing the end of our elephant filming days for the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, and for certain the best of the jungle has been left for last.

We’re in the vast and incredibly beautiful Doi Phamuang wilderness sanctuary, part of the Doi Khuntan National Park region in Thailand’s north between Lampang and Chiangmai.  This is a region over 160,000 acres (65,000 hectares), spanning two provinces, with a mountain range separating the areas.  Most of this area has never been logged, and consequently it’s a really healthy and diverse forest ecosystem – and perfect elephant habitat.   This was the first area that the Reintroduction Foundation began to release previously captive elephants ten years ago. Presently there are thirty elephants living here, roaming freely throughout the forest.  Unlike the Sublangka region where we’ve been filming for the past several weeks, this region is much bigger and mountainous, and it takes much longer to find the elephants.

Finally when we get to the top of the mountain, huffing and puffing in the heat, to our dismay our enthusiastic guides had not considered that dense forest means no clear view to make our shot!  No problem. Out come the machetes and the next thing we know they are scrambling down the slope like billy goats quickly clearly out all the dead trees and underbrush.  Within half an hour we have an opening just big enough for us to get an amazing view shot of the beautiful valley below.   And this was just the beginning of our week with these intrepid and skillful rangers.

During the week in Doi Phamuang our filming work also included an exciting, albeit risky, trek on motorcycles through river beds, bamboo forests and rocky inclines 12km deep into the forest to uncover the body of a decomposing elephant who had died of natural causes.  We accompanied one of the Foundation’s advisory veterinarians to collect samples from this carcass for genetic analysis.  Despite the unbearable putrid smell of the elephant carcass there was a strange beauty to this sight and something very peaceful about the way its form decomposed within the bamboo grove.  It seemed to be a natural place for this large life to end,  a sixty-year old elephant I was told, and around her carcass  the mud was impressed with the footprints of  other elephants who had come and gone, perhaps to pay their respects.

We spent our last day floating in a makeshift raft into a beautiful lagoon where we filmed elephants who come from the forest to drink and bathe in the deep, cool waters.  Here we met two elephants, recently released.  The rangers spent a long time observing and taking notes on how these elephants were getting along, and adapting to their new life.

We’re set up in Chiangmai now, where we will soon begin the editing of the short documentary that we are making for the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation  called “Return to the Forest”.  As a separate project from our Elephants Never Forget feature film, this shorter documentary will outline the work of the Foundation and their goal to protect habitat for Asian elephants.  As charming and chill a city as Chiangmai may be, I already miss the green wildness of the jungle, the symphonic chorus of exotic crickets and lonely night birds, and the distant rumbles of those lucky elephants who are living freely in the forest where they were always meant to be.

Check out our Facebook page for more behind-the-scenes photos.

Our first encounter with Nong-Mai here was a couple of weeks ago, and although brief she did stop and look at me before heading off with Pompam and the others.  Today it’s only Pompam and Nong-Mai at the pond, and they both seem very curious about us, and our cameras.  We spent a few hours filming them, and it was incredibly heart-warming to see Nong-Mai and Pompam playing together in the water, prodding each other with their trunks, and following each other around, munching on succulent patches of grass and shubbery.   At one point, Pompam came towards me, with Nong-Mai by her side.  I was not sure what to expect and took a few steps back.  The ranger with me smiled and said that they were only coming to check me out and not to worry.  But as sweet-tempered as Pompam and Nong-Mai are, their presence is still very commanding!  It seemed that Nong-Mai was very curious, but a little shy to come over to me without her big friend Pompam by her side.   After I said her name a few times, she wandered away only to return a second time coming a little closer, again with Pompam in tow.  Interesting.  Several minutes later they lumbered away but Nong-Mai came back a third time – and this time alone.  This was pretty cool.  She stood only a few meters away from me eating her grass, watching me, seeming very content.  In a fleeting and memorable moment, something in her gentle and intelligent eyes conveyed a hint of recognition, confirming for me that indeed elephants never forget.

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