Of all the Thailand suggestions we received, visiting an elephant sanctuary was at the top of most lists of things to do in Chiang Mai. Elephant Nature Park (ENP) was the best known in the region and arguably one of the best programs of its kind. It seemed like a no-brainer when we booked a half day a few months ago, and it did not disappoint.
The shuttle picked us up at our hotel around 8:45. It was already about half full, and we collected two more parties along the way. Our group was pretty diverse: a pair of guys from Paraguay (heh), a mother and son from New Jersey, two young women from Argentina, and two couples from the US and Germany (I think). The drive to Elephant Nature Park was about an hour, but our time was occupied by a video about the sanctuary created six years ago (now featuring outdated stats) and a few words by our group leader, Ten. We were run through the dos (be chill, stroke their trunks and shoulders, take pictures) and don’ts (stand directly behind them, pick up food that they’ve dropped, ignore your group leader), which several people in our group immediately ignored as soon as we saw elephants.
We arrived a little after 10 and were given some time to use the bathroom before our first elephant encounter of the day. Right before we were about to walk over to the feeding station, some idiot in our group informed Ten that he forgot his cell phone in the shuttle, which had since driven away from the dropoff point. Ten was pretty agitated, but he was gracious enough to arrange for him to pick up his phone from the shuttle driver near the feeding station. Given that everyone paid a lot of money and just spent an hour in the van to meet the elephants, this was a pretty aggravating delay. It is exactly the kind of thing that annoys me about tour groups.
Except this time, I was the idiot. My bad.
Anyway, now that the crisis was averted and I could post lots of things to Instagram, we made our way to the first feeding station, which wasva wooden platform with a pretty clear “do not cross” line that virtually everybody crossed. We were given bananas, watermelons and pumpkins to feed a family that happily greeted us. It was fun watching the picky eaters fling watermelons over their shoulders, as well as the differences between elephants that picked favorites among the visitors and those that systematically spread the love, moving back and forth along the platform and taking food from all comers.
The elephants at ENP are Asian elephants, which are different (obviously) from African elephants. Asian elephants are a bit smaller and grayer, have a two-domed (humped) head and are generally more friendly than African elephants. They also have a one-finger trunk tip, which is surprisingly adept at picking up food.
Now a little about ENP and why it exists. In Thailand, private citizens are still, somehow, permitted to own elephants for the purposes of “work.” Despite ending the ivory trade in 2014 (2014!), there still hasn’t been much progress when it comes to their legal protection. Work, in this case, is always bad, frequently horrendous. From their use in the lumber trade to their inclusion in circuses and tourist traps, domesticated elephants are subjected to pretty intense abuse in order to be, well, domesticated. But in a poor country, their use generates some monetary value, which the government sees as a net positive.
At ENP, elephants have been rescued with conditions that include broken legs, emaciation, ear loss and, as perhaps the shittiest example, complete blindness caused by whips from an angry human trainer. If that made you cringe, good. The positive news is that ENP is leading the way in elephant protection and awareness, and now have over 70 elephants on several hundred acres of land. (For the record, they also rescue dogs, cats and water buffalo.) The project is wholly funded by donors and ecotourism, so your money is doubly beneficial.
This is Jenpeng. She's 80, loves bananas and enjoys getting blinged out with an ear corsage.
Back to the day. We stepped down from the platform and walked along the grounds toward one of the elephant stations. A pair of female best friends, aged 80 and 60, eagerly accepted another banana offering and some trunk stroking. Elephants apparently can live past 100 and have an average life span of 70. We saw multiple octogenarians during our brief time there. Also, although some of the elephants were rescued as family members, many form their own families and friend groups or adopt new elephants into their own.
After a few more meet-and-greets, we had lunch, chatted with our groupmates, and prepared for the afternoon stations. Here’s another thing I have in common with elephants: they tend to get cranky after lunch. There’s a strict no-petting policy in the afternoon, because the elephant behavior becomes a bit more unpredictable and they prefer to chill with their friends/family and have a nap, which they do either standing up - using their trunk for stabilization - or lying down on their side. This is totally fair. Don’t touch me during nap time.
The rest of the afternoon was spent meeting different groups of elephants. Toward the end, we looked across a narrow river to see a group of tourists riding elephants at a neighboring attraction. NEVER RIDE AN ELEPHANT. This is bad. It hurts them. A lot. And the training required to make elephants rider friendly is, again, really bad. I like to think that most people who still do this are just ignorant, but I’m sure there are still folks who just really do not give a shit. Those are bad people. If you are one of these people, stop riding elephants.
We peppered Ten with a few more questions before it was time to leave. I picked up a fanny pack at the gift shop (all proceeds go to ENP) and we hopped in the shuttle back to the hotel.
Ten forgave me enough to take this picture.
A quick thought before I close. Before we rescued Zoe (our dog) a few years ago, I used to think that people who obsessed over their pets and attributed human affect to them were really weird. I have always liked animals, but not to the point where I fully understood the deep emotional connection that I’ve heard described. That changed as soon as she came home with us. Now, I feel like a father to her.
I say this to mention that elephants are way smarter than dogs, and their love and appreciation for (good) humans is just as strong. The way they positively responded to their new keepers and the perpetual stream of new visitors was incredible to watch. It’s obviously not as good as a life in the wild, but knowing that they are receiving world class treatment and rehabilitation, especially in a developing country, is heartwarming.
Overall, this was one of the best experiences of my life. If you ever need some random elephant trivia, I'm your guy. And if you’d like to learn more about what you can do to help protect these gentle giants, please check out this site.