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Patara Farm
2011.06.28
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How to make friends with an elephant: bribe them with breakfast.
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Hi! Who wants to love me? Let's play!
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My friend for the day. Phonetically, his name was Bon Jin. I thought of him as Big Jim. He was a somewhat stubborn old guy, but he took care of me, holding me tightly with his ears when the trail got rough. Elephants are wonderful.
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This little toddler was a handful. When she was out of her pen, she was getting into everything. So much fun.
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Bath time.
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picnic lunch, before swimming with the elephants.
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Some of these pictures (the better ones) were taken by the wonderful people at Patara Elephant Farm. http://www.pataraelephantfarm.com/
"There was a time when life was good for the Thai elephant. In 1900 there were around 100,000 domestic elephants in the country, working as transport for people and cargo and hauling logs. They had long played a central role in Thai culture, as battle tank, road-builder and religious symbol. Things are very different now. Thailand’s forest cover has gone from 90 percent in 1900 to 29 percent in 1986, while the country’s elephant population is now thought to be between 4-to-5000." As Richard Lair reports in Gone Astray – The Care and Management of the Asian Elephant in Domesticity (published in 1997)
During our trip, we were told estimates are now down to 2 or 3 thousand Thai elephants.
Patara Farm is an elephant rescue and breeding program that takes only 6-8 visitors per day, for an all day educational program where each visitor is paired with an elephant. They're typically booked months in advance. We were lucky. There was a cancellation, and we got to spend our day with these wonderful creatures. They're smart, they're caring, and you can't get on one's back without their help. The elephant literally lifts you up with a leg or trunk, and boosts you onto it's back. It's like hefting a toddler onto your shoulders, only it's an elephant, and you're the toddler.
It was a facinating day.
"There was a time when life was good for the Thai elephant. In 1900 there were around 100,000 domestic elephants in the country, working as transport for people and cargo and hauling logs. They had long played a central role in Thai culture, as battle tank, road-builder and religious symbol. Things are very different now. Thailand’s forest cover has gone from 90 percent in 1900 to 29 percent in 1986, while the country’s elephant population is now thought to be between 4-to-5000." As Richard Lair reports in Gone Astray – The Care and Management of the Asian Elephant in Domesticity (published in 1997)
During our trip, we were told estimates are now down to 2 or 3 thousand Thai elephants.
Patara Farm is an elephant rescue and breeding program that takes only 6-8 visitors per day, for an all day educational program where each visitor is paired with an elephant. They're typically booked months in advance. We were lucky. There was a cancellation, and we got to spend our day with these wonderful creatures. They're smart, they're caring, and you can't get on one's back without their help. The elephant literally lifts you up with a leg or trunk, and boosts you onto it's back. It's like hefting a toddler onto your shoulders, only it's an elephant, and you're the toddler.
It was a facinating day.
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Wow, what a fantastic set!!!
beeacooker · 2011-07-23: 00:15
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Simply amazing.
Jess · 2011-07-28: 17:25
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