New found family
Early january a mother with her baby elephant of about 6 days old has been brought to the Elephant Nature Park. The mother has been working in a trekkingcamp and had to go on working there till the day of birth. Because of a tight belt which the mother elephant had to wear around her belly, the baby has too little space to move. As a result he hasn’t grown as much the way he should have and his right hind leg has been damaged. Just after arrival at the park it seems like the baby is not gonna make it. He therefore gets extra food feeded by bottle, and people keep a close eye on him. When we arrive at the park three weeks later, the baby is already walking around joyfully. Mae Lai Tong, the elephant with the exploded foot who has arrived from Surin in December, has become a protective auntie, keeping close to mother and baby.
When Sri Nuan sees the baby she runs to her. Sri Nuan, the mother and Mae Lai Tong start to make impressive sounds: deep, heavy rumbles, peeping, trumpetting, hitting the ground with their trunks. They constantly make circles around and sniff at each other. The mother seems to accept Sri Nuan as an auntie.
After a while the baby tries to drink milk from Sri Nuan. Allthough Sri Nuan can’t give any milk at the moment, If the baby keeps doing this she might even start to produce milk. Another baby of about 6 months old comes to take a look at the group. Because the baby is standing next to Sri Nuan, she quickly tries to drink from Sri Nuan. Then her own mother comes to take a look. The baby goes to her mother and stands beneath her. Then she walks underneath her to the other side, which makes that the mother from the other family comes in between of the new family and the baby. Suddenly there’s panic with a lot of noise. The group circles each other in a way that both families are standing separate again. It all calms down now.
That night Sri Nuan sleeps with her new found family. Silver Flower still needs a little distance to the other elephants so she’s standing a bit away from them. The next day Sri Nuan keeps close to the baby at all times. The mother even leaves the baby to Sri Nuan now and then and walks off a bit. Whenever another elephant comes close, Sri Nuan immediately steps up to them to see if it’s ok. If she doesn’t think it’s ok she pushes away the intruder. Silver Flower seems to join the group more and more. Sometimes she is with the group, sometimes she walks off to graze on her own. Together the whole family takes a bath. In between of those three trunks she dares to go into the water. At times she falls over, which makes her head to go under water. But then there’s always a big trunk close by to help her up again. What a secure feeling the must be! 
The mahouts have already started to expand the roofed but else fully open stall where the elephants rest a night. An extra “room” for Silver Flower is added so she can stay with her family at night.
