Sponsor an elephant @ The Elephant Valley Project

ELIE & the Elephant Valley Projects (EVP) sponsor an elephant page is an ongoing funding program for the 12 elephants now at the EVP Sanctuary. Donors can sponsor one of our elephants as a monthly contribution or support them with a one off donation. To give you a quick update on the 12 elephants at EVP, one of which you may be directly sponsoring, read on.

As an overall update, we wanted to let you know we have been seeing many wild elephants in the dry season this year around our valleys. The most dramatic event this year was when we had a herd of nearly 15 wild elephants sleep very close to our basecamp for a week. Then a wild bull elephant visited most of our female groups, including Easy and GeeNowl, Sambo and Ruby, and then Doe and Darling. We believe this is the same bull that is baby Diamonds daddy and he seems to be coming back to this area each year. The main problem is the safety of the mahouts and for the older elephants, so we have been constantly moving all our groups of elephants out of the way of the wild herds moving through the area as best we can. The downside to our visitors, is we have to move our elephants into areas closer to the village and in the northern valleys, which in the peak of dry season has less fresh grass and foraging areas. Therefore the majority of funds at the moment are going to extra food for most of our elephants to get through this period.

Sambo
Sambo continues with her tooth issue, which has had some more ups and downs over the past few months since its first diagnosis. The combination of her infected tooth, the cold season, strong winds, and a dry forest, resulted in a decrease in her weight. Now into the end of March and with the first and much appreciated rains, she’s happily grazing on the fresh fruits and shoots all around! With your continual support this elegant old lady is receiving all the care and medication needed to help aid such a troublesome problem!

Nung Bra (Ruby)
Ruby’s been doing great over these last few months, powering through the colder December, January winds, and the dry season with her continual healthy appetite to just eat, eat and … EAT! She’s in her late 50s now and is showing slight signs of age. She is walking a bit slower and occasionally, with the tougher food, we hear her teeth squeaking as they begin to wear down after the many years of chomping away! She still sporadically has small wounds and swellings from stings, splinters, or insects, and with your financial support we’re able to cover the costs of her medication needed from time to time. She still provides the ever valued comfort and companionship for Sambo, especially when she has her dramatic diva moments.

Gee Yul (Easy Rider)
After spending a few days receiving visits from the wild bull elephant, for her safety we moved Easy Rider over to our northern valley, away from the wild elephants, leaving the waterfall and all its dense jungle behind. She’s been knocking trees down, grazing, and plowing through her new dry forest, grassland environment with ease! On occasion having a small cut or puncture wound, she still continues to be our wildest elephant yet! She’s a formidable character, with an abundance of knowledge and skills in the forest. If she does get a cut or wound from her forest foraging, your financial support helps cover whatever medical cost we may need to provide.

Gee Nowl
Together with Easy Rider, GeeNowl had some interest from the wild bull elephant, but she is quite scared of bulls. For her safety, and that of the mahouts, we moved her over to our northern valley. It was a hard, dry season over in this valley due to the fact that shis is a very picky eater. We have been giving her extra banana trees and supplementary food to keep her healthy. In the dry forest, GeeNowl also suffers more from fly bites. Your support means rapid treatment and medicine to help her.

Hen
Hen continues to surprise us with just how adaptable he is! After a dramatic life changing event 2 years ago, he is still shining through the difficulties! Even at a slower pace, he is still uprooting trees to satisfy his dietary needs, cruising around the forest, and crossing paths with some of our females along the way.
Hen’s trio team of mahouts continues to work hard, to offer exceptional daily care. Every morning the team checks first that Hen is O.K., carry 60+ liters of water to his location in the morning and the afternoon for him to drink, give him a wash, a pain relieving injection, a hot traditional medicine compress on the hip, and then let him stroll and graze in the forest! This routine is truly only made possible from kind donations and support such as yours, helping us cover expenses.

Gee Bloh (Doe)
Doe is one of those ele’s that is highly self-sustaining, running into a few issues here and there, but ultimately she's a shining example of just how well a captive elephant can be living in their natural environment! She’s been doing fantastic in our Heaven Valley over the colder December, January months, having a plethora of different food options to browse on. Staying at a steady weight and always keeping busy, she’s taking great care of herself and her best friend, Darling. In March, Doe had some unexpected company from a wild bull overnight, but we are relieved to say she didn't deem stressed, hurt or bothered in any way! Unfortunately, she did suffer a snake bite to her back leg in March. This sometimes happens in the forest and it was all cleared up with our team of vets addressing the issue quickly with ice packs, injections, and care!

Bong Kong (Darling)
Darling, being in her early 60s, is unstoppable for her age! Even through this colder winter season, she still maintained a healthy weight, which is a solid reflection of just how well she cares for herself. Whether she’s grazing, bathing, mudding, dusting or scratching; these are signs of healthy behavior, and how she keeps herself in top shape! For the unexpected setbacks that she occasionally encounters, we continue to thank you for your support. Your generosity allows us to cover the cost of medicine and supplements to keep this beautiful elephant safe and healthy.

Ning Wan
The cold season is always the hardest on the old elephants and we were quite worried this could be Ning Wan's final year. Luckily she keeps surprising us. Even though she had a couple of small compactions in the last few months (blockages due to not being able to chew her food properly), she managed to pass them herself with a little extra medicine and support. This beautiful old girl is still a shining example of a matriarchal mother figure. She checks on each of the other elephants every morning before going about their daily routines. As the dry season kicked in and forage in the forest was drier and more scarce, your funding is going to support her need for increased daily food supplements. So onwards she goes, living out her retirement years in her forest home.

Mae Nang
Similar to Ning Wan, we were quite worried about our oldest resident Mae Nang and how she would handle the cold season this year. However, she is doing fine, grazing normally, and following her herd through the forest. Though her arthritis is playing up a little, and her feet are showing signs of old age, she is still looking remarkably well for an elephant in her 70s. Surprisingly, Mae Nang is actually the only elephant in the group to be curious about the baby elephant, Diamond. She has shown some positive behavior in overcoming her fear and moving closer and closer to Pearl and Diamond. Thank you for your continued support in her care, as we adjust her supplements and diet to keep this older elephant going strong.

Gee Chreng
This big old girl doesnt really get affected by many things and is a very healthy elephant. Everyone loves watching her and Ning Wan have a little gossip session every morning, and then wander off into the forest together. All the girls are slowly becoming more interested in the baby elephant, at times staying closer as a group. The hot dry season saw some itchy bites and skin irritations, but a little medicine cleared it straight up. One of the owners of Gee Chreng also had a new baby this last month. The deep cultural connection these families have with their elephants was evident when the couple came around to do a traditional blessing with all the elephants, including Gee Chreng.

Gee Pael (Pearl) & Gee Pech (Diamond)
The last few months have seen a massive growth spurt for baby Diamond. She is running around with more and more energy, while exploring further distances from her mum Pearl. Sometimes this can be a little chaotic, when she gets the zoomies like a little puppy and runs towards people, having Pearl then trumpet and call her back or come chasing after her. She has a whole forest to play in, so we just give her as much space as possible. The little cutie also celebrated her 1st birthday on the 25th March, and we can't quite believe it has already been a year. Pearl, as ever, is a shining example of a mum. She cares for Diamond 100%, and also is still the talkative, gossipy, strong elephant she has always been. Both her and Diamond got some extra bananas over the cold season, to increase their energy. Yes, baby D is starting to eat bananas, leaves and just about everything else she can put in her mouth. Just like a true toddler.

Thankyou

We want to thank you all for HELPING US, HELP THEM. Your support is helping us cover costs for medicine, supplements, and everything else for these amazing pachyderms. We are committed to providing a better life for the amazing retired and rescued elephants under our care, but we could not do this without you, so thank you all for your sponsorships and donations.

Links:

• http://www.elephantvalleyproject.org