Riding High

Saturday morning began with a sense of anticipation and the usual scrambling to pack and get on the road. Packing and getting organised the night before somehow always ends up as the last priority, with preference given to lingering over that one-last-beer/cider after the previous last beer/cider….

We were heading for the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, also known as the Elephant Orphanage Sanctuary.

Anxious to leave the city behind, we inadvertently chose all the wrong possible turn-offs as street signs in this city seem to be in a language we're not conversant in. Tensions were rising. Finally, we're on the correct highway and the sight of the mountain range ahead dissipates any brewing discontentment.

lunch stop

Barely two hours out of KL, we make a a quick lunch stop at Lanchang- the kind of small town that boasts of one gas station, one post office and one of everything else. Back on the bike, another 20-minute ride took us to the sanctuary within the protected Krau Game Reserve.

An energetic weekend crowd, probably from the city like us, had turned up for the visit. Duly impressed with the elephant skull on display, we retreated to the darkened air conditioned room for the video presentation on the wild elephant relocation efforts. Definitely a welcomed retreat after being in the heat in our riding gear even though the musty smells tickled my nose and brought back childhood memories of hiding in dark, dank cupboards in a game of hide-and-seek.

I couldn't help but think of the unrecognised efforts, bravery and risks taken by the Elephants Capture and Translocation Unit in moving wild elephants from the disappearing jungles cleared for oil palm cultivation to the safety of the national park. Perhaps their thankless efforts add a little balance to the karma for the rest of us to earn a little space of existence alongside other life forms.

lined up to go

Tucked away from the large clearing where the interactions between visitors and residents were to be held, we watched several elephants in their high voltage enclosure. Two older ones, curious with the new faces, came over to the gate and watched us watching them while several other juveniles engaged in play. Before the handlers could even appear, as if they had consulted the same clock, all the elephants suddenly made their way to the gate and stood there waiting and swaying in unison and anticipation for their handlers to open the gates.

The time spent interacting with the elephants, getting absolutely close-up and personal was a total tactile experience for me. First just running my hands along this huge wall of elephant, feeling its creases and the raspy thickness of its hide which can measure up to 3cm. The necessary thickness of their hide serves to hold together their mass. Aptly explained in an encyclopedia reference,

"Elephants need a thick skin to hold together their mass respectively their inner pressure. This can be compared with buying bread. If 1 kg of bread is bought, it is wrapped in tissue-paper. If 20 kgs of bread are bought, a thick and strong paper bag is needed to hold together the bread parcel."

Yet despite the apparent thickness of their skin, the numerous nerve endings make them sensitive to even a lingering fly!

With some apprehension, I grabbed a handful of fresh fruits and offered it to the closest eager elephant. Getting bolder and further encouraged by a reminder to myself that these animals are herbivores, I was soon placing the fruit right in its squishy mouth, nudged along impatiently by its prehensile finger at the trunk tip. It was one happy slushy feeding time!

After the visitors had their rides on the elephants, I made my request to ride on an elephant down to the river to bath. My last experience of riding was in India on camel on a desert safari ages ago. This! was absolutely heaven compared to that! No merciless grinding of the hard camel saddle into my butt but a generous leathery broad back to take me places!!

heading to the river for a bath

the only way to enjoy the river is a thorough dunking

the babies weren't going to miss out

Some interesting characteristics of the Asian elephant:

1. An Asian elephant has five toes on each front foot and four on each back foot.
2. Look out for the prehensile finger on the trunk tip if you get a chance to feed them!!
3. The wrinkly skin of the elephant helps the animal to control its body temperature and to keep it cool. Wrinkles increase the surface area of the skin so when the elephant baths it has more skin to wet. When the elephant comes out of water the cracks and crevices of the wrinkles trap water and because it takes longer to evaporate in the heat it keeps the elephant's skin moist longer than if it had smooth skin.
4. Different species of elephants have different number of bones comprising their skeleton.

NOTE:

The Elephant Capture & Translocation Unit moves wild elephants from areas of conflict to permanently protected areas. The endangered elephant’s natural habitat is constantly being cleared and replaced with oil palm, rubber, cocoa, watermelons, banana and other crash crops. Wild elephants are driven to raid these crops in the face of diminishing natural food sources.

Wild elephants are only brought back to the sanctuary if they are injured, too young to care for themselves and separated and left alone without chances of surviving on its own.

The resident elephants are exercised daily on morning walks. Thoroughly trained elephants are provided with social interactions during visits by the public to break up the monotony of their captive lives. People and elephants are encouraged to socialise during the elephant rides, hand feeding, bathing and scrub down in the nearby river.

Training for the resident elephants is all important as they are employed in tracking down, pacifying and relocating wild elephants from reduced natural habitats to permanent and undisturbed jungle reserves.

http://www.myelephants.org