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!
Observing Wild Elephants in Kaeng Krachan National Park
