EUF's Rescued Elephants

RAGS TO RICHES
An Elephant Story With a Happy Ending

In July 2009 Mae Boun Nam and her brother were released into the forest of a Protected Area in Laos. This was necessary and a common practice, because it was the wet season and their owner had to plant rice. Mae Boun Nam is only 14 years old, but while in the forest she was mated by a wild bull. Their owner was a caring man and would leave the rice planting every three days to check up his two elephants. On the 11th day of their release the owner was horrified to find both Mae Boun Nam and Phu Kham Sing had been viciously shot, probably targets of an attempted poaching. The bullets were of small caliber, which is probably why the animals didn’t die. The cow suffered horrific injuries having been shot in the ribs and shoulder. Sadly the trauma was too much for Mae’s body and she lost her calf. Her brother was shot three times in his head. Their owner contacted the only mobile vet unit in Laos, which EUF supports annually so both of the elephant’s wounds were treated and antibiotics were injected. Without the help of this mobile vet unit possibly both animals would have died. Mae Boun Nam’s loving personality hasn’t been scarred by her experience and she remains a gentle-natured young elephant. She will now be living, thanks to EUF’s rescue, in a newly constructed sanctuary, the only one of its kind in Laos. Mae Boun Nam means, Mrs. Deserving and this sweet young elephant certainly is deserving of the safe place she will now have to live in and raise a baby in the future.

Mae Boun Nam is EUF's 10th Rescued Elephant

YOU MAKE RESCUES POSSIBLE

Without your donations rescues like Mae Boun Nam, in our lead story, would not be possible. So many other elephants also need your help. EUF needs donations to continue supporting the only mobile vet unit in Laos, which helped in saving the lives of Mae Boun Nam and her brother. You can make a donation as a Birthday gift or in memory of someone. And don’t forget Cars For Causes as a way to support EUF. We can not continue our critical work without you, please send as generous donation as you possibly can, ever dollar donated does not pay for administrative cost but goes directly to help these very endangered animals.

PHANG SOMBOON is a beautiful middle-aged lady with a pretty face. She has worked most of her life
at illegal logging and has been used as a taxi ride. She has had many owners but fortunately bears no scars of mistreatment. Somboon is perhaps the most laid back, gentle and loving elephnant ever rescued by EUF. She will live at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center where she will receive excellent care, good nutrition and enjoy the lake for bathing and playing. Somboon is the ninth elephant rescued by EUF who has been given a second chance for a restful and healthy life style.

MAE DOK will no longer be logging, she has become the “educational” ambassador at a new elephant
museum in Laos. Mae Doks face reflects her sunny disposition and her nickname, Mrs. Flower, suits her well. An elephant museum is being built near the capitol of Laos where she can be touched by school children and adults alike while they learn about this important part of their natural heritage. She will also deliver books to schools and libraries, that are being donated by a group who provides reading material in the appropriate language to various countries. Mae Dok will be an amazing ambassador.

PANG LOM This little elephant was taken from her mother before she was weaned and put on the streets to beg. The men who "rent" her are not caring elephant handlers their only concern is the money they collect from begging or a final sale of the calf. Pang Lom (her new name meaning "umbrella") was coated in dirt, had infections in her ears, was covered with wounds and malnourished. This is a totally stressful and terrifying experience for such a young baby. Many of these calves die due to lack of proper care and the trauma of their situation.

EUF worked with the Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in northern Thailand to rescue this pathetic little elephant. It was a game of hide and seek for over a week. Finally she was spotted in Chiang Mai, negotiations were successful to buying her, but at an exorbitant price. There are many greedy men who want their cut and street babies are at premium prices. It is a catch 22 situation--rescue a calf from a horrific situation which is good, on the other hand buying one just keeps these men in business to get another baby.

The men who traffic in elephants put them in trucks and travel from place to place trying to keep a low profile. Some villages, towns or cities turn a blind eye to this practice. A very few will confiscate the elephants, levy a fine and occasionally put the men in jail. The Thai government must enact strict laws to protect their national treasure and then have a positive enforcement or this insidious practice will continue.

MEDO all her life has been a victim of man's cruelty and greed. At the age of 12 she was injured while working in a logging camp on the Burma Thailand boarder. Since she could no longer do the hard work required because of her lame leg her owner returned to his village. When Medo came into estrus he chained her four legs to trees and brought in a bull in full Musth to mate with her. Bulls in Musth are totally wild driven by the tremendous hormonal changes in their bodies. The bull assaulted Medo jamming his tusk into her side with continuing attacks. She must have been bleeding while trumpeting in pain and agony but no one tried to help her. She was ill and injured for many years but her owner still forced her to work pulling logs in his village. Medo's rescue was paid for buy EUF and she was slowly transported to The Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand. She now has good food, a river to bath in, vet care and above all companionship of her own kind. She had not been with other elephants for many years and now has been welcomed into a herd which is necessary for an elephants well being.

MIMI or Mae Te Keow was the first of EUF’s rescued elephants. She was only 34 years old, but looked at least 50. Seriously ill from parasites, eye and ear infections and starvation, Mimi was so weak that it took 15 hours to walk her down a trail that would normally take only three hours. She had been so abused that she didn’t trust people and other elephants did not like her. After over a year in a sanctuary, she is beginning to trust and has finally made a few elephant friends.


	Rescued Elephants
	RAGS TO RICHES An Elephant Story With a Happy Ending In July 2009 Mae Boun Nam and her brother were released into the forest of a Protected Area in Laos. This was necessary and a common practice, because it was the wet season and their owner had to plant rice. Mae Boun Nam is only 14 years old, but while in the forest she was mated by a wild bull. Their owner was a caring man and would leave the rice planting every three days to check up his two elephants. On the 11th day of their release the owner was horrified to find both Mae Boun Nam and Phu Kham Sing had been viciously shot, probably targets of an attempted poaching. The bullets were of small caliber, which is probably why the animals didn’t die. The cow suffered horrific injuries having been shot in the ribs and shoulder. Sadly the trauma was too much for Mae’s body and she lost her calf. Her brother was shot three times in his head. Their owner contacted the only mobile vet unit in Laos, which EUF supports annually so both of the elephant’s wounds were treated and antibiotics were injected. Without the help of this mobile vet unit possibly both animals would have died. Mae Boun Nam’s loving personality hasn’t been scarred by her experience and she remains a gentle-natured young elephant. She will now be living, thanks to EUF’s rescue, in a newly constructed sanctuary, the only one of its kind in Laos. Mae Boun Nam means, Mrs. Deserving and this sweet young elephant certainly is deserving of the safe place she will now have to live in and raise a baby in the future. Mae Boun Nam is EUF's 10th Rescued Elephant YOU MAKE RESCUES POSSIBLE Without your donations rescues like Mae Boun Nam, in our lead story, would not be possible. So many other elephants also need your help. EUF needs donations to continue supporting the only mobile vet unit in Laos, which helped in saving the lives of Mae Boun Nam and her brother. You can make a donation as a Birthday gift or in memory of someone. And don’t forget Cars For Causes as a way to support EUF. We can not continue our critical work without you, please send as generous donation as you possibly can, ever dollar donated does not pay for administrative cost but goes directly to help these very endangered animals. PHANG SOMBOON is a beautiful middle-aged lady with a pretty face. She has worked most of her life at illegal logging and has been used as a taxi ride. She has had many owners but fortunately bears no scars of mistreatment. Somboon is perhaps the most laid back, gentle and loving elephnant ever rescued by EUF. She will live at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center where she will receive excellent care, good nutrition and enjoy the lake for bathing and playing. Somboon is the ninth elephant rescued by EUF who has been given a second chance for a restful and healthy life style. MAE DOK will no longer be logging, she has become the “educational” ambassador at a new elephant museum in Laos. Mae Doks face reflects her sunny disposition and her nickname, Mrs. Flower, suits her well. An elephant museum is being built near the capitol of Laos where she can be touched by school children and adults alike while they learn about this important part of their natural heritage. She will also deliver books to schools and libraries, that are being donated by a group who provides reading material in the appropriate language to various countries. Mae Dok will be an amazing ambassador. PANG LOM This little elephant was taken from her mother before she was weaned and put on the streets to beg. The men who "rent" her are not caring elephant handlers their only concern is the money they collect from begging or a final sale of the calf. Pang Lom (her new name meaning "umbrella") was coated in dirt, had infections in her ears, was covered with wounds and malnourished. This is a totally stressful and terrifying experience for such a young baby. Many of these calves die due to lack of proper care and the trauma of their situation. EUF worked with the Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in northern Thailand to rescue this pathetic little elephant. It was a game of hide and seek for over a week. Finally she was spotted in Chiang Mai, negotiations were successful to buying her, but at an exorbitant price. There are many greedy men who want their cut and street babies are at premium prices. It is a catch 22 situation--rescue a calf from a horrific situation which is good, on the other hand buying one just keeps these men in business to get another baby. The men who traffic in elephants put them in trucks and travel from place to place trying to keep a low profile. Some villages, towns or cities turn a blind eye to this practice. A very few will confiscate the elephants, levy a fine and occasionally put the men in jail. The Thai government must enact strict laws to protect their national treasure and then have a positive enforcement or this insidious practice will continue. MEDO all her life has been a victim of man's cruelty and greed. At the age of 12 she was injured while working in a logging camp on the Burma Thailand boarder. Since she could no longer do the hard work required because of her lame leg her owner returned to his village. When Medo came into estrus he chained her four legs to trees and brought in a bull in full Musth to mate with her. Bulls in Musth are totally wild driven by the tremendous hormonal changes in their bodies. The bull assaulted Medo jamming his tusk into her side with continuing attacks. She must have been bleeding while trumpeting in pain and agony but no one tried to help her. She was ill and injured for many years but her owner still forced her to work pulling logs in his village. Medo's rescue was paid for buy EUF and she was slowly transported to The Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand. She now has good food, a river to bath in, vet care and above all companionship of her own kind. She had not been with other elephants for many years and now has been welcomed into a herd which is necessary for an elephants well being. MIMI or Mae Te Keow was the first of EUF’s rescued elephants. She was only 34 years old, but looked at least 50. Seriously ill from parasites, eye and ear infections and starvation, Mimi was so weak that it took 15 hours to walk her down a trail that would normally take only three hours. She had been so abused that she didn’t trust people and other elephants did not like her. After over a year in a sanctuary, she is beginning to trust and has finally made a few elephant friends. WANNA was a valuable candidate for the tourist trade and was being auctioned off. At six years of age she was young, cute and a prime candidate for the streets of Bangkok or to entertain tourists at hotels. Life on the streets of Bangkok for an elephant is harsh, with no water for bathing, polluted drinking water, malnourishment, respiratory and eye infections from air pollution, and the risk of being hit by car or truck. Wanna is now living at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center with companionship, nutritious food, clean bathing water and a caring mahout. SAMBAT was a wild young bull in Cambodia, forced out of his herd as all male adolescents are. On his own, he started raiding crops. The villagers had been chasing him away by firing warning shots over his head, but his time was limited as the villagers were going to kill him. The Fund paid for his safe capture and transport to a wonderful facility where the elephants do not work in the heat of the day and have companionship, quality food and regular baths. Sambat will become a “taxi” elephant to earn his keep, but in this well managed facility he will live a good life which is better than his previous alternative. KHAM SAI was so overworked by her previous owner that she became exceedingly sick and thin. She could hardly lift her legs because of exhaustion. Also she is blind in one eye as her owner used a bamboo stick to try and scrape a cataract off. Kham Sai has received veterinary care, gained some weight, and made several friends in her new sanctuary. PANG TONG had worked most of her life in the dangerous illegal logging industry in Thailand. She had borne two calves, both of which had died, primarily due to the thoughtlessness of her owner. When her last calf died he took her from the hospital back to his village where she probably would have been forced back into logging. The Fund purchased her and she now lives in a safe forest with a caring mahout and seven companions. Pang Tong now has our latest rescued elephant, Pang Lom, a mischievous two year old to love and mother.