I just read about this baby elephant who fell and got stuck in a manhole in Thailand.

His startled expression and pleading eyes say it all.

Left stranded in a rather undignified position, this poor baby elephant was in need of some urgent help.

Poor Baby Elephant Stuck!

Poor baby elephant stuck! Rescuers spent 3 hours freeing the animal, who was unharmed, by using a bulldozer to widen the hole

I love these regal creatures. In the old days, Malaysians, just like the Thais, used to use elephants to move large heavy objects, for Royal use, ceremonial use and so on. You see, Northern Malaysia was once part of the Kingdom of Thailand so they share a similar culture. Today, many of the elephants in Thailand are trained to carry tourists on elephant treks through the jungle or to beg on the streets of many large Thai cities. Baby elephants are often taught tricks to appeal to tourists and, although it is illegal in many cities, work the streets with their owners from early in the morning to late at night. However, unlike the Thais today, we hardly see elephants anymore, except in the zoos. We do have an elephant sanctuary called the The Kuala Gandah Elephant Orphanage Sanctuary Malaysia.

Fun fact:
My maternal grandparents are from the Northern part of Malaysia, so they spoke Thai, as did my mum when she was a kid. Those who lived there basically spoke a few languages; Thai, Malay (Kedah dialect), Chinese (Hokkien dialect).
There’s also plenty of Thais living in that area today. Lots of Southern Thais and Northern Malaysians regularly travel back and forth between the two countries to do business, for vacation or to visit family members. Until recently, those who are born up north, like me and my mum, didn’t need a passport to enter Thailand.
I thought I’d share this little titbit as a lot of Malaysians, not from the Northern states, are surprised when I tell them this.

kuala_gandah_elephant_sanctuary

Started in 1974, Kuala Gandah is the only elephant sanctuary centre in Malaysia. The team is dedicated to locating, subduing, translucent problem elephants from areas where their habitats are constantly being encroached by plantations, to Malaysia’s National Parks such as Taman Negara.

I have been there in my 20s, and they allow people to take rides on the elephants as you can see in the picture above. The problem is, nobody warned my group that elephants have hair as thick and as rough as wires. So, those who wore shorts or pants with thin materials had a rough time as the stiff hair kept poking into our legs and butt as we sat on them. Fun stuff!

kuala_gandah_elephant_sanctuary2

We were not prepared, but those who want to visit this Sanctuary will be …. after reading my post! Wear jeans.

There’s always volunteers from Malaysia and from other parts of the world at this sanctuary to help the fast disappearing Asian elephants. Please click on the picture above to go to the The Kuala Gandah Elephant Orphanage Sanctuary Malaysia to read about their conservation activities and to see how you can help.

Jasmin

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Filed under: Environmental Issues • General • Green • Responsibility

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