Different volunteers are assigned to different elephants every day. Different elephants reside in four different areas (e.g. Centre, Midlands, Newlands, and Elephant Hospital). Elephant husbandry is hard work so we are usually split into several groups of a team leader and a few volunteers. Husbandry tasks for each area differ a little, and the schedule is mostly the same. Basically, we feed them several times a day along with enrichment activities, clean ups, baths, and walks. We do projects and harvesting as well. We have fertilized growing trees with elephant poo a few times!

Anyways, I got lucky to work with my two favorite elephants named Malai and Chok Dee several times. They reside in the hospital area as you can see from the Polaroid photographs.  These elephants have opposing personalities and it was quite a sight to behold. The elephant in the closeup picture is Malai. Her name means ‘The Lady’, which is befitting for her. She is gentle and mellow, perhaps one of the most laidback elephants I have come across. She takes her sweet time to savor every moment on her own terms. She took her medicated banana balls with grace. Chok Dee, on the other hand, is the funny glutton and her name means ‘Good Luck’. She is the only elephant that would eat bananas and fruits only, not banana balls and tamarind balls, and eats the fastest compared to others. She is smart enough to detect medications and refuse to eat anything with them inside. We once tried to feed her with banana balls with smashed meds, but she dropped them uninterested. Then, we tried to trick her by feeding her bananas with meds embedded into them. She ate them, but spit the meds out. We were dismayed but determined that with some good luck, Chok Dee will accept medications one day.

According to the textbook on elephant biology and medicine, wild elephants have been known to consume more than 100 different species of plants but are generally poor digesters (Fowler and Mikota, 2006). Tamarind has been known to help aid digestion along with mineral salt. However, elephants find them too sour alone so it helps to warp tamarind balls within banana balls, which is a lot like packing medicated pill pockets for dogs and cats. Chok Dee is old but healthy and knows her food. For safety, we had mahouts (e.g. elephant handlers) keeping an eye on elephants and controlling them with verbal commands in Thai so they do not hurt us as we perform husbandry tasks within their enclosures. It has been amazing learning about such regal elephants.

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We took a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to embark on a sightseeing wildlife tour in this place called Kaeng Krachan National Park. According to the WFFT website, this place is the largest national park in Thailand, providing home to over 400 species of birds, 57 mammals, including elephants, and some fauna and flora. This huge size is somewhat comparable to the Yellowstone National Park in the United States except that the Yellowstone is not home to elephants. It is a golden opportunity to observe wild elephants in their natural habitats. We have glimpsed seconds-long sights of elephant herds and it was quite exciting, even though they are generally too far to observe behavior. Despite that, I find it interesting that many trees bear suggestive evidence that elephants foraged around and stripped bark for food. There are elephant foot prints on the ground as well. You can see the tree marks in the picture to the right. I think that animal tracking is an important skill to learn and acquire because working with wildlife means we need to safely monitor them and ensure that they are safe and undisturbed. While a national park is not the same as a wildlife sanctuary, it is home to many wild and potentially dangerous animals so it pays to pay attention to signs around you and not disturb wildlife by accident. Disturbing the wild animal is not a good idea because it means they could end up attacking you or something similar. Another benefit is that tracking their imprints can clue us in about their behavior a little bit. It is like reading a palm. These trees tell a story about elephant behavior! Anyways, Kaeng Krachan National Park is HUGE and beautiful. I have never seen this much green before in my life and I grew up in Florida. Did you know that big cats and bears live there too?? At the end of the day, I could not find them at all! Despite that, I think it is worth a trip and I think that it will take many trips to the park to fully realize the awesomeness of it all. Carpe Diem!

Jarred up awake by an international jet landing firmly, I scoped the window and was greeted by the dark sky lightened up by the bright lights of Bangkok. I checked my digital watch, reading that it was around 2am. Instantly excited and nervous, I wondered how to navigate around in the airport and retrieve my tiny vintage suitcase without making a fool of myself just because I do not know Thai. Fortunately, it turned out to be easy because signs everywhere are also in English. Furthermore, an attentive flight attendant assisted me in filling out paperwork so I could pass through the passport control area and retrieved my suitcase without trouble. Feeling triumphed and relaxed, I eagerly went to the meeting point and awaited the SPC group upon their arrival at 8am. There, I killed time by reading and taking naps on comfy seats without seat handles. Lulled by a dispersing flow of the walking crowd and the glowing glimmer of sunrise, I savored every moment. Eventually, I realized that it was way past 8am and the group did not arrive. At this point, my cell phone was not connected to Wi-Fi because I could not read Thai. We were supposed to embark on a 3-hour trip to the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) by 9am. Panicked, I went to the help desk and consulted the public computer to no avail. Luckily, next to the help desk, I saw a dark-skinned man with a sign with my name and one other name on it.  From there, I learned from a tall male student that the SPC group was held up by some flight delays. Perplexed, I was the only student without problems and felt oddly blessed. Did it have something to do with 2017 being the year of the Rooster? It was my first time traveling abroad and I was grateful for a somewhat easy start to my journey in WFFT. For those who do not know about WFFT, this place is basically a wildlife sanctuary and refuge for elephants. Compared to the Tennessee Elephant Sanctuary (TES), WFFT permits visitors and volunteers to interact with elephants under supervision while TES does not but does offer live webcam of their resident elephants. I think it is a golden opportunity to observe elephants close up in person at WFFT. Upon arrival at WFFT, finding roosters there charmed and warmed me inside. If you go near the roosters too closely, they actually run with their heads not bobbing! It was one of the best discoveries I ever had. After settling in the assigned room and stuffing myself full of delicious Thai lunch, new volunteers and I went on an educational tour about the inner workings of the sanctuary for wildlife. There are a lot of different animals out there (e.g. gibbons, macaques, boars!). Notably, I learned that Malayan sun bears are a lot smaller compared to other species of bear and that they are often poached for bile and trafficked as illegal pets. We are there to help care and advocate for the wildlife and educate people so these terrible things do not happen again. As the night nears, heavy and warm humid air weighing me down, I got sleepy and ate dinner. We were told that we would start working with elephants the first thing in the early morning before breakfast (it means 6am!). Thrilled, I looked forward to getting started the next day and make a difference here in Bangkok.

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