Around Patara Elephant Farm

Just hanging out at Patara Elephant Farm for the day is such an event. April is the hottest month in Thailand; insanely hot at around 100 degrees.  We are sharing a few pictures of the elephants to show their joy of living honorably as the great animals they are, not being asked to perform, just to be elephants.

The joy is obvious, the babies we encounter each time are so playful, the mothers so totally happy and content.  This can only happen when they are in good health.  For the life of an elephant to be able to reproduce naturally means they experience hormone changes naturally, which also means they are happier.  I have learned that artificial insemination in captivity can totally confuse them as they do not understand what is going on. And then the baby arrives after 19-25 months, and some new mothers do not do well in captivity as they have not learned from aunties and extended families who would model for them if they were living as they should in their natural environment.

So at Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai Thailand we observe the lives of the elephants to be fulfilling. It does take them time to adjust to living peacefully.  There is a story about one elephant who was used for elephant riding and when she was acquired by the farm, she had an abscess on her back from the chairs that are often used.  If the elephant is not properly groomed before strapping on that chair, the skin can be irritated by dirt, a pebble, any debris between their skin and the chair. That elephant in particular spent 3 years in the elephant hospital to heal her sore. You can clearly see it today, a reminder of her pain in the past, an indent in her skin. Now today she lives happily, no more threat of sores.

They take such great care for elephants at Patara Elephant Farm. Focusing on returning them to good health through daily checks of ears, feet, and all the markings from sleeping; you can see the markings of dirt on different spots on the huge body and this tells the story of how they slept. An elephant sleeps only 45 minutes at a time, gets up and then shifts to the other side. The sleep cycle is only for 4-6 hours. Much has to do with the immense weight and how they have to keep shifting. Not easy to roll over 4 tons! Every day, the skin is taken care of; brushing along the grain pattern, which changes constantly. They use a bunch of leaves to "brush off" the dirt and parasites, they check the teeth, examine the dung. Yes, they are "poop inspectors".  Very important as it tells us about hydration, digestion, teeth and elephants are, in fact, a "poop factory," food in and out in about 1.5 to 2 hours.  Fun fact: elephants sweat in only one spot on the body, right above the toenails. So that is also part of the daily check list.  And I also learned that elephants got through 6 sets of teeth in a lifetime. Their life expectancy is like us, 85 years. Once that last set wears out they will go off into the forest and die. But not today's elephants, it is rare that they are able to live naturally like that. 

I spent much of yesterday observing, and then teaching the owners of Patara Elephant Farm about their new singing bowls. Giving sessions to them again has been a big help and we have managed to find great spaces to do this. They are quiet and thoughtful as they are thinking ahead for all the possibilities to help the elephants with these great tools. The idea of using it at end of life, during blood drawings (which I witnessed yesterday causes a lot of stress for the elephants),  if they need to have an I.V. inserted which does happen, or if they are sick, and other wonderful ideas are still forming on how to use the bowls.  They are the ones who know the elephants best, they care for them 365 days a year.





Tomorrow I will return to Patara and work with an elephant who they rescued from a circus. She is a loner as she does not know any other way of life.  She is very good friends with Do Do who is a male, and right now he is in Musk, which means he has a big hormone surge, you can see it flowing out between his eyes and ears, so he is isolated for the time being.  They describe the condition as being with a drunk, unpredictable and they can be very aggressive.  She loves him, and you can see she is frustrated without him around.  Last week she was quite responsive when I was playing the bowls for them so it will be very interesting tomorrow!