Sponsor an elephant @ The Elephant Valley Project

During the past year, your support has helped so much. It feels like we have just shared sad news this past while, and this update also has some more struggles, but there is no way we would have gotten through probably the saddest 6 months in our history without you. Though many people have moved past the pandemic, we are still feeling its effects and are looking forward to rebuilding and recovery. For this we continue to rely on your support. Unfortunately tourism in Cambodia has yet to recover to pre pandemic levels. Your support allows us to continue our efforts for the elephants, as well as the indigenous community who rely on the forest they share alongside the elephants.

ELIE & the Elephant Valley Projects (EVP) sponsor an elephant page is an ongoing funding program for the 7 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 elephants at EVP, one of which you may be directly sponsoring, read on. 

Gee Pael (Pearl)

We continue to be optimistic about Pearl’s road to recovery regarding her injured leg.  However it continues to be a long road and we don’t yet see the end in sight.  While we are still providing extra supplements to Pearl, with all the recent rains we are happy to see that some days she turns up her trunk at the supplements, and instead sets off to forage for fresh bamboo leaves!  Her daily treatment regime still continues, and we continue to be grateful to our partners Dr. Trish and IDSARA who continue to help us source meds and update her treatments as necessary. Trunks of thanks to all of our supporters who also make Pearl’s treatment possible. 

Nung Bra (Ruby)

Unfortunately for our smallest elephant resident, we started to notice the cataract in her left eye deteriorate further into a painful condition called a glaucoma.  While there is nothing we can do to reverse this particular eye condition, we are making her as comfortable as possible with eye drops to relieve the pressure, and pain medications.  With the combination of medications we noticed some improvement in her overall condition, and are happy to see that lack of sight doesn’t seem to be stopping her as she navigates through the forest, and criss crosses her way across the river.  Thank you to all Ruby’s sponsors for allowing us to continue to make this tiny elephant comfortable in her golden years!

Hen

Our big boy Hen, continues to be managing his dislocated hip well, with the assistance of his three dedicated mahouts.  In June we noticed he was touching the right side of his face, as if he had some discomfort.  However, we weren't able to identify the source.  A couple weeks later though we noticed he had some swelling in the same area that he had previously been touching.  The mahouts were able to identify a cut inside the cavity that previously held his tusk, which he had broken at a young age.  Hen has been very patient, allowing the mahouts to flush out the cavity with a cleaning solution daily.  After his daily treatment, it is a pleasure to watch how resilient Hen continues to be, as he munches on all the fresh grass brought by the rainy season.    

Gee Bloh (Doe)

Doe continues to be a favourite of our visitors, as she is a magnificent presence to watch as she confidently navigates the forest with her best friend Darling.  There were a few rainy days and rainy nights in July, which resulted in Doe having a cold, slow start to her days.  August has brought lots of sunshine, once again allowing Doe and Darling to enjoy their daily bath in the river at Heaven Valley.  We are happy to report no medical issues with this lovely lady, and are thankful to all her supporters that make it possible for Doe to have such wonderful mahouts guiding her through the forest.  

Bong Kong (Darling)

Darling continues to enjoy Heaven Valley with her best friend Doe.  While Darling continues to be healthy, we have noticed her poo becoming slightly more stringy, with long fibres.  This is notable because it indicates to us that her teeth are starting to become worn down, a common sign in ageing elephants. Luckily it is nothing to worry about at the moment, but something the team will continue to monitor to ensure this beautiful elephant is given all the support she needs in her retirement years. To keep her healthy, we added banana trees and some more bananas to her diet back in May and with the fresh new rainy season shoots, we can see her belly nice and full. Thanks to all her donors for the support to provide these extra supplements.

Ning Wan

This year we started to notice a slight change in behaviour with Ning Wan, as she is starting to really show her age and her body is wearing down even more.  The change has been very slight, and only recognizable by our dedicated mahouts, who spend seven days a week observing and caring for our resident gentle giants.  Poor old Ning Wan has been suffering with more belly pain on and off, and a few slight compactions, due to her worn down teeth, and not being able to grind down her food properly.  With a few tweaks to her diet, and some additional medication to support her gut and digestion, Ning Wan is back to her old self, confidently strolling through the forest.  She continues to receive her twice daily meal of cooked rice, tamarinds, papaya, and cucumbers.  All these supplements are to keep her energy up, so she can keep up with her best friend Gee Chreng.  Thanks to all of Ning Wan’s sponsors that ensure that we can continue to buy as much food as needed for this hungry grandma.  

Gee Chreng

Gee Chreng continues to show confidence in her rehabilitation into the forest, from her former working life as a traditional Bungong owned elephant and then as a former tourist elephant.  Gone are the days that she expectantly waits for food from a tourist, instead she now walks right on by to find her favourite forest fruits and fresh leaves.  We are happy to report that this big lady has had no medical issues.  We are thankful to our supporters for ensuring that Gee Chrang can carry on in the forest, enjoying gossip sessions with her bestie Ning Wan.  

Gee Yul (Easy Rider)

Unfortunately after many many years at the EVP, following the loss of Gee Nowl, Easy Riders owner decided when her yearly contract finished he wanted to spend some time with her himself. Therefore he has moved Easy Rider a few villages over to his own land, which actually allows us to stay in contact with her and her owners. This is very hard for us, and difficult not to judge the owner, but after having elephants in his family for his whole life, and he himself getting on in years, Easy is his last connection to his past. We are hopeful that Easy Rider’s owners will renew her contract again soon, so that she can return to stomp through the forest, push over trees, and pull up roots, in the forest she has spent many of her years in.  Thank you to all of Easy Rider’s sponsors that have supported Easy Rider through the years.  We remain hopeful that it is just goodbye for now, and she will be back with her forest friends soon! 

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