Volunteering at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

I've previously mentioned the truth behind elephant tourism here, but I will happily reiterate the importance of ethical travel for those who are still ignorant on the subject.

As many of you may know, Asia is known for providing happy tourists with elephant rides through the streets and jungles; practically any research on a trip to Thailand will tell you to make sure you visit an elephant park and catch a ride on these huge animals. What these websites fail to mention is how damaging this practice is to elephants, both physically and psychologically. 

Elephants are extremely social creatures who are family orientated. It's common for them to spend their entire lifetime within one heard, rarely straying from each other's company. In order to get these elephants involved in animal tourism they are often taken away from their families as a baby, and are forced to live a life away from home. This is traumatizing to both the baby and the herd they unwillingly left behind. Once the elephants are in captivity they are chained down and beaten with hooks until they're properly trained to do as their owner pleases. It's a cruel and time consuming process known as the crush. Once the elephant is working for it's owner it must succumb to it's new life of walking the same streets and paths each day. Elephants in the wild will roam up to 50 miles a day if they please, but more often they prefer to stay within a smaller radius near water and food sources. They could happily spend their entire day eating and playing with their friends and family. To force elephants to tediously walk back and forth with heavy loads on their backs is just cruel, but it's not something that many people think about. 

Fortunately there are some really great ways to experience elephants up close and personal without doing them any harm. The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is a relatively new program that was started by a few Thais who saw the dark reality behind elephant tourism and wanted to stop it. They started rescuing elephants who were working in the tourism industry in Thailand, and instead relocated them to their new home in the Thai jungle. They were able to bring families together that had previously been separated and now they have 5 happy elephants living in the hills of Thailand. 

Here they don't use hooks to keep them in line and the elephants are never tied down or forced to do anything they don't want to do. They happily spend their days eating endless sugar cane and bananas, and they get to swim in the nearby river or take a bath in the mud pit. The owners of Elephant Jungle Sanctuaru tirelessly spend their days observing and playing with the elephants to make sure they don't get into trouble, and they make sure to provide them with enough fresh food throughout the day so the elephants don't have to go too far to eat.

Adventuring to the elephants

Playing with elephants

As volunteers with Elephant Jungle Sanctuary we were picked up at our hostel in Chiang Mai at 8:30am and jumped into the back of a truck with other volunteers and started our two hour journey to the elephants. We started on the paved roads of Chiang Mai but eventually hit the bumpy roads of the uphill trek and spent a solid half hour trying not to bounce out of the truck. We started questioning if we would make it there in one piece, but finally we arrived, slightly bruised, but excited for the next step! Once we were out of the truck we met up with Robert, the founder of EJS. We were given bamboo hiking sticks and walked about a half mile to the home of the elephants. We set down our bags and were given sugar cane to feed to the elephants and hiked a few more minutes up hill to be greated by a running elephant who was extremely excited to see his caretaker. Peter, the youngest of the elephants is only two years old and knew that the sight of humans meant he would be getting snacks. He ripped the bag of sugarcane right from his caretaker and started trumpeting in excitement. It was quite a startling site to all of us, and although Peter is harmless we were all giggling nervously as we darted out of his path. Robert explained to us that Peter is essentially a puppy and still hasn't learned his manners. Slowly we all gained the courage to walk a little closer to the three elephants nearby and started feeding them bananas and sugarcane. It was a crazy experience to be so close to such huge animals. Although Peter is only two years old he already weighs about 1000 pounds. His grandma is 50 years old and is currently 12 months into her 22 month long pregnancy, weighing over 10,000 pounds. 

Emiliya with mama elephant

It was lunch time for the elephants and we all took turns feeding them various different plants and snacks. For such large animals they're surprisingly sneaky and quiet, and the surrounding hills echoed with the occasional scream as an elephant snuck up behind an unknowing volunteer, snatching food right out of their hands. We were all timid at first, letting the elephants take foods with their trunks, but eventually we all warmed up to them a bit and were able to place the food right into their mouths.
It was a chilly day up in the mountains, probably in the low 50s, so the elephants spent a lot of time huddled around the small fire that the workers had built for them. We spent about an hour petting the animals, feeding them, and watching them play in the trees nearby. We then left them to relax so we could all eat our own lunch, giving them some time to themselves. Normally the next step in the schedule is a mud bath followed by play time in the river, but because the temperatures were so low the elephants weren't willing to partake in this activity. Some people were disappointed when they learned this news, but we quickly realized how great it was that the caretakers didn't force the elephants to participate in an activity that would make them cold and unhappy. Instead of playing in the river and mud we instead got more time with the elephants on land, just casually following them through the jungle, watching them play and relax in the trees. I definitely would've preferred the mud and water experience, but it was awesome to see how well respected these animals are and I was grateful to see that they had the freedom to do whatever made them comfortable.
We had a really great day learning about elephants and observing them in a natural setting. It was awesome to see how happy these guys were, as opposed to what I've previously observed in zoos. On top of the elephants and sanctuary workers we also met a great group of travelers who were spending the day at the sanctuary as well, and they gave us some tips for what else to do in Chiang Mai during our weekend.
I highly advise this trip for anyone who has any interest in elephants. The money goes towards keeping these elephants happy and healthy, and they're also currently saving up to buy more elephants out of the tourism industry.

** Thailand is also know for their 'tiger kingdoms' where tourists get to cuddle up next to cute sleeping tigers, take them for walks and play with them. This practice is as equally unethical; tigers are predatory creatures and are not programmed to be calm and lovable creatures. In order to get these tigers to be safe they are often drugged, starved and abused. I haven't done as much research on tiger kingdoms and at the time don't know of any ethical ways to be around them, but I as tempting as it is to spend an afternoon next to these awesome animals, I urge you to not participate in a tiger kingdom.

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Logistical Info

- A full day at EJS is 2400 baht ($67) and can be purchased on their website or at their office in Chiang Mai. We booked a few weeks in advance because we were working on a limited time frame, but a few in our group booked just a couple of days before the trip 

- The price includes pick up from your Chiang Mai location between 8-8:30, lunch in the jungle and drop off around 5:30pm 

- Bring a towel, change of clothes, bathing suit, bug spray and sunscreen 

Responsible Animal Tourism

In high school my sister and I were both mildly obsessed with America's Next Top Model, and there's one season that always stuck out to me. In Cycle 6 the top contestants travel to Thailand where they go trekking into the forest on top of an elephant and do a photo shoot along side/on top of the elephant. So obviously, I immediately added "ride an elephant" to my bucket list and started my day dreaming of romping with elephants in Thailand.

Examiner.com

Fast forward nine years and I'm sitting in my Intro to Tourism class at Ohio University and the teacher shows a film about the tourism industry in Thailand. It was there that I learned the alarming reality of riding elephants.
As large as elephants are, their spines are not built to support the weight of humans. A lifetime of holding people while trekking causes irreversible damage to the backs of elephants. In elephant tourism, riders often sit in a chair, known as a howdah, that is strapped on top of the elephant, which adds extra weight onto their spine and often causes blisters that go untreated. Many companies claim to provide "responsible elephant treks" where you ride the animal bareback, as opposed to in the chairs. Although this might be healthier for the spine of the elephant, many people don't realize what the elephants went through to be trained to carry people in this fashion.

The Crush

In order for an elephant to be 'good' at their job in elephant tourism they are often taken away from their families at an extremely young age so they can be trained right away. Elephants are social and loving creatures, they stick with their family and travel in packs. Taking a baby elephant away from it's family is psychologically damaging, and it's an experience that impacts them for the rest of their lives because an elephant never forgets. After the babies are taken away from their family they go through the training process known as 'the crush'. It's here that the elephants are put under extreme conditions that involve sharp hooks and starvation. They are trapped in tiny cages where they spend their days held down by chains while being beaten. They go through both psychological and physical trauma that stays with them for the rest of their lives. Even after an elephant finishes their time being crushed, these habits are still used throughout their entire lives. Mahouts (elephant trainers) often use sharp sticks or bull hooks to keep the elephants in line, jabbing them anytime they're doing something wrong. On top of that, elephants that are used for tourism purposes are often kept in chains when they're not trekking. Elephants are extremely personal and social animals, when they're left alone in the wild with their family they are almost always in contact with another elephant, choosing to stand right next to each other and often checking in on each other by rubbing their trunks over the other's body. Elephants in captivity are usually kept in close proximity to other elephants but aren't actually able to physically touch each other, causing distress and isolation.

nature.org

But don't fret! There is a responsible and guilt free way to experience these cuties up close and personal: Elephant Sanctuaries! When it became common knowledge that elephants were being mistreated, people stepped in to create better lives for these well deserving animals. Throughout Thailand (and the world) there are many elephant sanctuaries that use their resources to take in abused and neglected animals and give them a healthier and happier life. Elephant sanctuaries offer stays ranging in length, anything from an afternoon to a week on their property. While at the sanctuary you learn what it takes to healthily care for an elephant. You get to feed them fresh fruit, walk them to the river and swim with them while they take a mud bath.

Mud baths at Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

One of the first questions that people ask when I tell them that I'm moving to Thailand is "are you going to ride an elephant?" and I energetically reply "No!" I'm looking forward to spending a period of time romping with these awesome creatures in the near future, and doing so in an ethical and kind way.

for a more detailed and informative post on elephant cruelty visit this great article by Matthew Karsten

A few reviewed and ethical Elephant Sanctuaries include:
Elephant Jungle Sanctuary
BLES
Elephant Nature Park