Pachyderms on Parade!

An afternoon at the 

Elephant Conservation Center

 

Climb into your car and within a half-hour's drive from Lampang you'll find yourself at the Elephant Conservation Center. Operated by the government of Thailand, the Center is a living museum of the elephant in Thai history and culture.

Elephants are cared for, rescued, bred, and trained in the ways of their ancestors. Each elephant is cared for by his/her own mahout. Some pairs have been together for more than 15 years. 

The Center provides audiences with daily demonstrations of how elephants were trained and used in working northern Thailand's historic teak forests. The Center also maintains a hospital and care center for rescued and ill elephants; and provides the Thai people with direct experience with their country's royal animal. 

 

Every afternoon the Center's mahouts demonstrate how they bathe their charges in the Center's pond. It was obvious that the elephants really enjoy this time and it was surprising to see how playful they were in the water.

 

During each day's shows in the Center's open air amphitheater, there are fascinating demonstrations of elephant artwork. A mahout puts paint onto a brush and gives it to his elephant. The elephant takes the brush in its trunk and begins to paint. While the mahout changes the colors on the brush from time to time, there is no manipulation of the elephant. The creation is the elephant's own.

Following each performance, the audience is invited to purchase small bundles of sugar cane or corn to feed the elephants.

 

Great fun for both people and elephants! 

Concluding our afternoon was a ride on one of these great grey guys. Smooth, comfortable, easy on the body, our preferred mode of transportation? None of these apply. But, it was fun to sit high on the back of one of these incredible animals while she walked through the pond, up a steep bank and along a narrow dirt path.