Majestic

Majestic implies an impressive largeness proportionate to scale without sacrifice of dignity.  Elephants are often referred to magnificent majestic beasts.  However placing them on this pedestal negates their other qualities and abilities.  The ability to forgive, patience and tolerance towards humans that are weaker and yet demand obedience.  The obvious joy they experience while playing in the creek, rolling and wrestling with each other like puppies.  The loyalty and caring they have for each other, their family, their enduring memory for loved ones and routes.  In short they are definitely magnificent, they are majestic but so so much more.

I had no expectations of the day.  My only experience with elephants was in a zoo setting, from a distance.  We spent all day with these animals.  I was able to feed them, touch them, swim with them and walk through the jungle alongside them.  We saw them play in the river and rip small trees out of the ground and carry them like large pull toys through the forest.  I was able to stand, and look into the huge heavily lashed eye of a 60-year-old grandmother and just be with her, forehead to forehead.  I did not hold strong feelings about elephants before this experience.  That has changed.  I have changed.  Now I understand.  I was able to really see them.  The more I learn about them, their capacity for grief, learning, communication and long memory, the deepening sadness I feel as I watch in real-time their habitat diminishing.  Most elephants in SE Asia live in captivity and sanctuaries, their numbers are 50,000 (50%  of that number live in India) down from over 300,000 one hundred years ago in the wild.  Logging, development and human encroachment have stolen their jungle, their home. 

There has never been a more dangerous time to be an elephant.  They are on the path to extinction.  New Chinese wealth is financing a hunger for ivory that threatens to bring an end to wild elephants within our lifetime.  The global ivory trade is still killing over 20,000 African elephants yearly for their tusks, and the illegal poaching often leads to a land grab and development once the large animals are removed from the profitable forest.  The unregulated ivory trade in Vietnam, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia meet the demand of the Chinese market. The dwindling  habitat is leading to dangerous confrontations between people and elephants, leading to revenge killing and the poisoning of elephants.  The USA is the second largest market for illegal ivory after China.

Tourism is a double-edged knife.  It provides a place for these animals in the economy but also puts them to work as a showpiece for tourists.    Luckily in the popular ether, tourism has pushed for ethical responsible Elephant sanctuaries that prohibit riding, chains and abuse.  However, it is very complicated.  As with all things, there is no black and white, only grey.  The sanctuary we chose, the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary got great reviews, and the elephants appeared relatively free and roamed naturally.  The mahouts controlled the elephants with commands and sounds, gentle prodding to get them to go forward.  However this was only our brief experience for the day and I did not do deep research.  The handlers were teenagers and our guide, “Mr.Cool” as he liked to be referred to had only held the job for 5 months and was 19. 

In our day we did not learn very much about elephants or their plight, there was very little education presented.  We were told that when tourism was low there was not enough food to feed the elephants so sometimes they get sick and die from lack of nutrition.  The system is definitely out of balance and as I often do I came away with mixed feelings.  I did appreciate the control that the Mahouts did have as the younger male elephants did appear more feisty and unpredictable.  These are massive animals and could trample a human with little effort.  They are precise with their girth and have the grace and elegance of a much smaller animal.  We saw them balance and find their way through steep rocky terrain with ease.  The day was full and we will forever remember our rich experience with this family of elephants.

Witnessing the plight of elephants in Thailand I have decided to support Save Elephants Foundation found at http://www.saveelephant.org.  They are an active organization in this area that supports habitat preservation, education and rescue.  I will be sharing their posts on my FaceBook timeline.