Meet the Elephants at Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary
News
High-welfare venues such as Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary, in Thailand, have been closed to visitors since the pandemic began. But you have been a lifeline to elephants in need.
All images thanks to Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary
Kind supporters like you have helped provide emergency funding to Kindred Spirit, and ten other venues across Southeast Asia, to help feed vulnerable elephants.
You’ve made it possible to buy the elephants’ much-needed favourite foods such as corn stalk, Napier grass and banana trees. Come and meet Mae Doom and some of Kindred Spirits’ other spirited residents.
Mae Doom enjoying her favourite rubbing tree.
The ladies: Mae Doom and Too Meh
Mae Doom (pictured above), an elephant in her mid-20s was lucky enough to have been reunited with her mother, Too Meh, her auntie Dodo and nephew Gen Thong since being rescued from an elephant camp.
Mae Doom and her mum Too Meh prefer their own company and will often charge away from the other elephants in the area, running up steep hills to get their own space. It’s often difficult for their mahouts to keep up.
Lovely Too Meh.
The ladies also have a mischievous side. Mae Doom and Too Meh will often smell the water coming from the pipes that run through the forest to provide running water to nearby villages. Sometimes they break the pipes to reach the water. This means that their mahouts always have to carry extra pipe so they can fix it quickly.
The boys: Dodo and Gen Thong
The boys Dodo and Gen Thong have been hanging out with another elephant called Prai who they knew previously from when they all worked together in tourist camps. The staff at Kindred Spirit say that it’s been great to see them all reconnect and have noticed how reliant Prai is on the others to teach her about the local forest.
Water-loving Dodo.
Right now, the elephants are spending their days as normal roaming around and foraging and are enjoying having more elephants around to socialise with. The boys, in particular, have been spending more time down by the rivers and streams and will often find the best places to take a relaxing mud bath, which helps to protect their skin.
In the past, when Dodo was traumatised and forced to work in the elephant camps, he was known to be quite aggressive and unpredictable. But now that he’s been brought home to the forest, he has become a very calm elephant who just wants to walk around and eat bamboo.
Before COVID-19, visitors would come and observe Dodo and his friends in the forest. Sadly, now, there are no guests visiting but his routine remains the same. Every day he stays in the forest, walking, eating and socialising with his friends.
With your ongoing support, elephants just like Mae Doom, Too Meh, Dodo and Gen Thong can now be free-spirited. Free to simply be elephants. Thank you for being a kindred spirit.
With your ongoing support, elephants just like Mae Doom, Too Meh, Dodo and Gen Thong can now be free-spirited. Free to simply be elephants.