15. Nov 12th. Elephant Conservation Centre

We’re up and packed because we’re staying overnight at the Elephant Conservation Centre.  Noy and Phonsy are taking us to the designated pick up location for 7:45 where we will load onto their minivan with others to get to ECC.  

We have another great breakfast at the Hotel and we’re off.  When we get there the driver from the ECC, Tai Won is there waiting for us.  He is on the phone checking for the other guests but finds out ifs just Judith and I.  Bags are loaded in, we load in and we’re heading south west to Sayaboury.  It’s a 3 hour drive and has a single restroom stop.  

Tai Won takes us out of town and we quickly get on a long road going through towns and countryside.  The brake and gas pedals alternate between being fully depressed.  I can see the speedometer from where I’m sitting and he’s regularly going 70-90 in zones that are not more than 30-50.  Not only is he speeding, the road is very rough in sections and I was launched more than once that trip.  If it hadn’t been for my lap belt I’m sure I would have hit the van ceiling.  

Despite the driver’s best efforts, I was able to doze a little on the way up.  At the rest stop, Judith decides to change to a seat with more leg room.  The van is built for shorter people like me.

We arrive at ECC and are greeted by our guide, Ken.  It’s a name he’s using to make it easier for guests to remember.  Ken leads us along the path towards our cabin, pointing out the toilet and shower facilities on the way.  Our cabin is a grass hut, tiny and very rustic but has a great view of the lake.  It’s also built for short people as anyone over 5’5” has to be careful with the low profile ceiling on the deck at you come up the steps.  

Our rustic cabin.  Both beds are the same size contrary to the distortion from the wide angle lens.

The outside deck with enough head room for me, less so for Judith.

We come back to the meeting and dining area of the facility to get debriefed about the centre.  ECC is the only conservation centre in Laos and provides an safe, undisturbed environment for former working elephants and their mahouts (elephant handlers).  The ECC first began as an outreach group in 2001 to raise awareness and promote anti poaching campaigns.  In 2007 they created mobile vet clinics and micro chipped all the captive and working elephants is Laos.  In 2010, they started the ECC to continue to educate and to protect elephants in their natural environment.  They receive some funding from the Laos government and have over 6,000 hectares of tropics forest lands.  They created a breeding program, an elephant hospital and lab, and introduced a socialization program with a goal to re-wild animals where possible.      

There are about 800 elephants lefts in Laos, half in the wild and half in captivity.  The wild elephants are faced with deforestation from Laos’ logging industry which disrupts normal migration patterns.  Human - elephant conflict results when elephants go outside the forest and find human crops to eat and break human infrastructure.  Elephants in captivity are dying rapidly as well.  The government has placed tight restrictions on the use of elephants in logging.  Even so, they may have unhealthy diets, may not be taken care of properly or suffer injuries from the dangerous work.  They are usually overworked.  Even those that work in tourism are usually mistreated.  There is not any incentive to breed elephants in captivity because it sidelines the animal for 4 years.  Male elephants are rarely held in captivity because they are too aggressive.  They are the ones most often sold for body parts as elephant skin is in demand for traditional medicine and ivory is prized for its aesthetic value. 

There are about 30 elephants at the centre.  Some are owned by the Laos government, some by the ECC.  Many of the elephants previously worked in the logging industry.  In 2012, the Laos government stopped 13 elephants being illegally destined to a Dubai Safari; these animals were sent to ECC.  But illegal trade continues around the world causing prices for elephants to escalate.  ECC attempts to raise funds to purchase elephants in captivity but has seen the price tag for these animals rise dramatically making it harder to rescue more of these working elephants.

All elephants in captivity have a handler or mahout that looks after their needs and training.  With most of the animals coming from the logging industry, their mahouts are invited to come to the centre as well, to pass on their knowledge of elephants. Mahouts are also incentivized with housing, income and board to bring their elephants to participate with the breeding program.  Most of the mahouts are Khmu, one of the three main ethnic groups in Laos.  

After this introduction with Ken, we proceed walk the trail to a lagoon lookout point.  A few of the elephants including a mother and her baby are brought to the lagoon to have a drink and bathe in the water we watch them from a distance for about an hour until they are led away by their mahouts.  

Lunch is served at the lookout.  After lunch we take a tour of the hospital area.  We are introduced to the veterinary technician Kam, who talks about their vet program.  The elephants are taught touch training so that they learn movements that enables the team better diagnose issues, such as having them raising a foot to check on the sole.  

After the talk with Kam we head down to a meadow and get to get a closer look at a few of the elephants.  There are 5 elephants standing in the meadow enjoying some banana branches.  We can’t get too close and there is certainly no touching.  Elephants do not like to be close to strangers.  These are animals that have spent their lives in captivity.  They have no family linkages so it’s taken the ECC many years to have them stand together in a group setting.  Some have been afraid of other elephants including youngsters so it’s been a long process for the centre to get some of them to trust each other.  

This cutie is about 21 years old.

 

One of the larger behemoths

   

The elephants finish their banana branches and head back to the forest.  They are secured by a chain with a long lead at night to keep them safe.  We follow them along a trail and need to avoid the occasional fresh dung droppings.

Mahout and elephant.

We leave the elephants for the rest of the day and go back to our room.  It’s been a hot day so I risk the sketchy looking shower before dinner.  I get a sunset shot from our cabin.

As I hang at the dining area before dinner, we meet one of the staff, Michael.  He’s a plant biologist working for the center from Liverpool, England.  

Dinner is served and we are joined with Nicholi, a photographer journalist from Italy who is documenting the mahouts.  We understand the documentary will be on the website next year, so I’ll be looking for it.

It’s been an interesting day learning about the plight of Laos’ elephant population.  We had ordered up extra blankets as our driver said it would be cold.  We thought it might be as cold as our jungle experience but it definitely is not.  In fact, it’s very pleasantly warm so I don’t use the blanket.  But I do use the mosquito netting.