EUF News
RESCUED FROM BEGGING
Lom just celebrated her fourth birthday. Since her exact date of birth is not known, the day she arrived at her present home at the Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary
has been designated as the official day. Lom has gained weight and all her physical ailments have been cured. Best of all, she now has a surrogate mother elephant in Pang Tong, who dotes hours of loving care on her adopted daughter. Lom also attended “school” at the Thai Government Center. It was necessary for her to learn some “manners” and commands just as human babies must learn certain boundaries. Lom is a domesticated elephant and for her own safety, as well the safety of the people who care for her, school was a must. She was a quick learner and actually enjoyed the attention of her teachers and returned to the sanctuary a very contented and well-behaved three year old.This little elephant calf was being forced on the streets to beg from tourists. Her body was covered with filth, and her ears were covered in wounds and infected. She was malnourished and frightened and looked even younger than her two years. This horrific practice of using baby elephants to generate tourist dollars is occurring frequently in Thailand as "business" men ply their trade of trafficking in elephants. Nursing baby elephants are taken from their mothers and forced into street begging to satisfy the uncaring greed of men.
EUF answered the Emergency call to aid in the rescue of this two year old calf. It was a traumatic chase as these elephant traffickers move from place to place trying to keep a low profile. Again and again this baby was sighted and lost, finally located in Chiang Mai. The prices being asked for young elephants are more than outrageous, there may be as many as five or six men waiting to get a "cut" of the profits. A deal was finally agreed upon and one very stressed elephant calf was loaded into a truck and hurried to safety.Renamed Pang Lom (Miss Umbrella) to commemorate her new beginning, this calf is now at the Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in northern Thailand where she will receive loving care. Her wounds and ear infections have been treated. A well balanced diet has been provided and she receives regular baths to improve the health of her skin.
Most important was her introduction to Pang Tong, a female who had lost two of her previous calves. Everyone wondered how the initial meeting would go. At the start, there much growling, roars and hitting the ground with trunks, and then suddenly it stopped---to everyone’s amazement Pang Tong pulled little Lom toward her trying to make her suckle! They have been inseparable ever since, constantly talking, exploring and delighting in each other’s company. Even the two bulls living at the sanctuary have been very tolerant of their new delightful mischief-maker.
Little Lom is among the very lucky few calves who have been rescued. Until the Thai government enacts and enforces strong laws to protect their dwindling national treasure, trafficking in elephants will continue. The trade in calves is particularly insidious as babies are taken at too early an age, because they are "cute." Many do not survive and those who do are so traumatized they may never lead normal lives.
EUF is grateful to all those who have donated funds to make such rescues possible. With everyone’s continued support, EUF can keep working to save other elephants like Little Lom.
CRUELTY THAT DEFIES UNDERSTANDING
On the boarder of Thailand and Burma, where illegal logging is common place, Medo was seriously injured when she was just 12 years of age. She could not get work in any of the logging camps because of her lame leg. Since she could no longer work in a camp the owner thought she should produce a baby for him. He brought a bull in full Musth to mate with her. All four of her legs were chained to a tree, however, the bull tried to kill her and rammed his tusk into her side. No one came to rescue her as she lay bleeding and crying. Most of her back bones were dislocated by the vicious attack.
She was injured & ill for many years but the owner still forced her to work in a village pulling logs. During this time she had no contact with any other elephants. Recently an elephant trader wanted to buy Medo and put her begging on city streets. He thought she would generate sympathy because of her terrible condition, which would translate into money for himself.Lek Chailert from the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand discovered this pathetic elephants and asked the owner to keep her until she could make arrangements to rescue Medo. When EUF heard about her, we immediately sent word that we would provide the funds needed to save her.
Medo had a very long and exhausting journey to the sanctuary. Now she will have proper food (she had never seen a pineapple or a mellon ), a river to bath in and vets will look after her to see if any thing can be done to help her back bones and other wounds. After many years of isolation she now has the much needed companionship of her own kind and has been welcomed into the herd.This elephant represents one of the worst examples of extreme cruelty EUF has ever seen. We will continue to be the 911 number to rescue any elephants that have been abused, neglected or are in harms way.
Medo's rescue was made possible by funds from EUF in conjunction with The Serengeti Foundation. Also a generous donation from Marion and Tom DuBois, in memory of their son Matthew, who died in 2000 aided in Medo's rescue.
ORPHANED CALVES GIVEN FREEDOM
On April 2, 2006 a joyous event took place with the 6th release of juvenile elephants from the Elephant Transit Home in Sri Lanka. A total of nine animals around four years of age were taken to the Udawalawe National Park to be set free with the wild elephant herds. These young elephants all had been orphaned before they had reached one year old. EUF donated three of the radio tracking collars which will allow their movements to be monitored after their release. EUF worked with Born Free to arrange for the collars. The following is an excerpt from the news release written by David Jay of Born Free:
"Work starts at 5:30 in the morning, loading the lucky animals onto the vehicles that will lead them to freedom. The elephants, mildly sedated to reduce anxiety, are still conscious and mobile. This is big news in Sri Lanka and the media and officials gather to follow the elephants to the national park. Using a hose they are all showered and mud is smeared by hand over their backs. It is now midday-the sedation has almost totally worn off-and with the temperature already over the 30C mark the animals need the benefit of this natural cooling in order to be comfortable. Finally the preparations are over and the animals are ready to go. The ropes around their ankles which kept them in position in the trucks are untied. The back of the truck is lowered to the ground. Suddenly the young elephants are free and they head directly for the nearest area of bush at a smart trot. Clearly they know their natural home and they waste no time in returning to it! These young animals which could easily have died in the wild or been condemned to a life of training and captivity, are now back in their natural habitat.”
EUF is pleased and proud to have been a small part of this exceptional release program.
