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GVI.2013.6 Date: 12 July 2013 Chiang Mai hub GVI Thai Elephant Project is expanding, not only the number of volunteers is increasing but also the elephant numbers After month s of arran ging and discussin g with loca ls and elep hant ow ners of Hu ay Pakoo t Village (the project site), GVI has successfully incorporated five new elephants to their project. The projects main objective is to improve the welfare and living conditions of domesticated elephants and to provide a sustainable income for their mahouts (elephant keepers). For many domesticated elephants in Thailand, life is spent in camps, where they work long hours performing tricks and giving rides for tourist enjoyment. This lifestyle can be extremely stressful for the elephants, and also their dietary and social needs are not met. Elephant mahouts have to care for their elephants in the camps, as a result they have to leave their families and communities for very long periods, sometimes seeing relatives only once or twice a year. Sintoh and Kham Suk Mario, Pbee Mai and Mario enjoying the forest The five new elephants joined the GVI team early June. Including two pairs of mothers and their calves; Sen Jap (~30 years) and Mario (male, 3 years), Kah Moon (~30 years) and Lulu (female, 3 years), and Kah Moon’s mother, an old female in her late fifties, Kham Suk. The calves have left their mothers and joined four year old Pbee Mai for basic training, this is essential as the elephants need to be taught basic commands such as “stop” in order to prevent them from trampling over huts, fields and most important people. This was Lulu’s first time in the forest, but she and Mario have gone a long way. From being very clumsy on hills, now they have excellent control of their feet. They have learned from Pbee Mai the different types of plants they can eat and how to get leaves from tall bamboo canes, using their trunk and feet. Mother and daughter, Kham Suk and Kah Moon are always together, and Sen Jap has been interacting with 30 year old female Manah and 50 year old Thong Dee. Not only the elephants are enjoying the forest environment and socializing away from working camps, but they have also been seen eating approximately four different plant species in a space of three hours. Making their diet in the forest more varied and nutritious than the staple diet of corn and elephant grass they get at the camps.
