Feeding these gentle giants was quite the different experience. We started off our work days by making their food (banana balls) and feeding them. Banana balls are just 3 simple ingredients: bananas, bran, and food pellets. We would mash these ingredients together with our hands and make jokes with each other while doing so. Then, we would make this sticky patty into different sized balls to feed to each individual elephant.

As I walked up to these gentle giants they ran to greet me because they knew what I had for them. Breakfast time! A cluster of elephants would stick their trunks out in hopes for a banana ball. Only one lucky elephant would get my banana balls while the other elephants would be greeted by my fellow volunteers. Once the elephants were done sucking down their breakfast like a vacuum, we would then provide them with “salad”.

This elephant sized salad was just simply banana tree trunks chopped up into bite-sized pieces. A salad for just one elephant was so heavy that it took two people to carry it into the enclosure. You had to be quick, though, because the elephants love their salad! If you were too slow the elephants would knock the salad out of your hands and knocking you over in the process. When everybody got the “okay” signal to start distributing the salad, it was like a game of tag with an elephant. Thankfully my teammate and I were quick enough to avoid the elephants hangry wrath.

Once the elephants had their stomachs satisfied, we then started cleaning up their large mess. It took about 5-10 people to clean up their enclosures after breakfast. They’re messy eaters! We had wheelbarrows and carts throughout the enclosure to assist us in cleaning the feces, food droppings, and any other kind of mess these gentle giants would leave behind. Once we were done, it was finally breakfast time for the humans.

Click here to read more stories from other SPC Study Abroad students who volunteered at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand.