The 2 weeks total I spent at WFFT was beyond an experience, it allowed me to explore things that not very many people can say they experienced. Hearing how all the animals arrived here and what their background was and because of those experiences it either made them a better animal or in some cases may have broken them to where they hate humans or even more specifically certain sexes of humans just like humans. What an animal is capable of and what they are capable of thinking about is unreal, especially the monkey’s and elephants.
They say humans are very closely related to primates and I always thought “yeah, whatever that’s cool I guess” but this experience let me see that first hand that some of these monkeys would do just about anything to either please you, or hurt you depending on their backgrounds. Most of the wildlife portion of the rescue at WFFT either came from a private owner or a temple. I actually witnessed a gibbon coming to the rescue from his 2 owners a man and wife that heavily sedated this animal with human sleeping pills for the drive but because these people raised this monkey in their home and hand fed it, it actually didn’t know how to properly use it’s hands, it had to be hand fed.
Most people bring these animals to WFFT with the best intentions but people don’t realize how much harm they can cause them, literally killing them with kindness and love. In the Buddhist religion if someone drops an animal off at a temple, the monks cannot decline it they have to care for it but they can only feed it what is donated which is how 2 of the bears at the sanctuary were named “Pepsi,” and “Cola” because all they had was Pepsi and CCla. Most of the monkeys came in the same way.
All of the elephants at WFFT either came from or a combination of logging, trekking, begging, and circus camps. All the elephants endured the terrible ritual called “Phajaan” which is “breaking of the spirit” where they are starved, left alone, and abused. Now after the “Phajaan” is over a single human called a “mahout” gives them their first meal and drink and gains the elephants trust by loving them, feeding them, and treating them very well for the most part but these mahouts can still lead them to any of the terrible lifestyles of trekking, logging, circus, etc. but most of these elephants love and respect their mahouts and will do anything they say. Now as I said about the monkeys, same as for elephants most of the elephants wont hurt their mahout but there are the few that have actually killed their mahouts. There is an elephant at the sanctuary that you must stay 10 ft. away from his enclosure because if he gets a hold of a human, you will be dragged in and have a very low chance of coming out alive. Khan Kluey went through the “Phajaan” process but was taken before the rewarding part could happen of the process, so he only knows humans to be these terrible beings.
These 2 weeks here at WFFT have shown me what animals are capable of, and what they are capable of feeling and thinking in the flesh. I saw it and witnessed it with my own eyes, I didn’t hear it on TV and just believe whatever I heard.
My biggest message at the end of this experience was think twice and extra hard before adopting an animal, before “saving” a wild animal, and give a domestic and/or wild animals extra patience and thought before approaching or dealing with them because at any moment that animal can severely hurt you or even kill you, they are capable of more you could even fathom.
Animals are not much more far off than humans. Don’t take any living being for granted. Lastly, don’t ride any elephant it actually causes much pain and permanently damages their spines. Don’t buy any goods made from ivory, don’t give money to a begging elephant or any facility such as a circus that makes elephants perform very difficult tasks.
Click here to read other stories from the SPC Thailand Study Abroad program.
My second week at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand was with the elephants and it really was fantastic. I’m mostly going to talk about my time at “the hospital” because these elephants were the first elephants I worked with and I really loved working with them. Chokdee and Malai Ngun live at the hospital and they are the most gentle elephants. A day with them consisted of preparing their food, taking them on walks, bathing them, preparing enrichments for them, and cleaning their enclosures.
Malai Ngun (a large necklace made of money meant to bring good fortune to the person who wears it) is a 65 year old elephant that came from a logging, trekking, and begging background, she is also blind in her left eye but it doesn’t slow her down from keeping up and getting her fruit snacks during her stroll. Chokdee (luck ) a 50 or so year old elephant that comes from a trekking, and logging camp.
