Message from BLES August 2008
Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary (BLES) is home to 8 rescued elephants. Located near the World Heritage Site in Sri Satchanalai, Sukothai Province, Thailand, BLES is a sanctuary which focuses on the survival of the Asian Elephant, and allows elephants to interact freely. In this quiet and remote location, the elephants are given time each day to swim in the pond and graze in the forest, un-chained and in family groups. BLES offers visits to meet the elephants, feed them, go for walks with them in the forest, and learn from their natural behaviour.
BLES has formed a fruitful partnership with Bring The Elephant Home (BTEH), planting trees for elephants. New land has recently been set aside as elephant habitat, but much of it is lacking in trees, and needs to be prepared for the elephants. With support from BTEH these 8 elephants will enjoy ideal habitat as part of their bright future at BLES.
July through Aug, BLES has planted over 2,000 trees for elephants. These trees will directly benefit the elephants, by providing shade and also a sustainable source of food for years to come. Some species bear fruit that attracts birds to scatter seeds, others are known to grow fast, while others are ideal elephant food. BLES staff and local volunteers planted a varied mix of wild banana, bamboo, mango, tamarind, jackfruit, coconut, takien, maka, bradu, yang na, and teak.
BLES has strategically planted this season in high priority areas, such as hill tops which receive less rain run-off. Taller trees are being placed in grouped areas, with open spaces in between for grazing on grass and banana. In the future, the tree dense areas will provide shade and fruit, while grass and banana trees will provide excellent grazing in the spaces between. Thanks goes out to BTEH for funding these trees, and also nursery development at BLES to harvest seeds to more baby trees for the future.
