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

ELIE & the Elephant Valley Projects (EVP) sponsor an elephant page is an ongoing funding program for the 8 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. 

Firstly we must start with a small memorial to two of our deeply loved elephants, who have passed in the last couple of months.

Gee Nowl

At the start of March, the team said farewell to our beautiful, gentle giant Gee Nowl. Since last year she was showing signs of old age and deteriorating health, and although her passing was expected it is never easy to say goodbye to a gentle soul. Gee Nowl was a favourite among visitors and staff, as she was one of the first elephants to arrive at the project in 2008. At the beginning she was not the gentle giant she came to be known as. After some time, she realised that her life at EVP meant no more hard labour, her stress and nervousness disappeared, and her gentle nature was able to shine through. Her calm demeanour is greatly missed in the EVP forest. In her last months, we were giving her lots of soft supplements, to make it easier on her old, worn down teeth.  Your kind donations allowed us to make our elderly girl comfortable in her final retirement years.  

Gee Pech (Diamond)

Since November, the team had been spending a lot of time with young Diamond, due to the injury and treatment required for Diamond’s mother, Pearl. Diamond was growing strong, energetic, enjoyed stealing mum’s food, and was a joy to watch as she cooled off playfully in the mud and river. Therefore it was a shock to the whole team, when Diamond passed away suddenly. On the morning of the 31st March, the elephant care staff observed Diamond was not herself. She was low energy, but eating and drinking fine. By the afternoon she was lethargic, went off her food, and then started to have swelling around her face and body. The mahouts came back from the forest and sent the information to our vet care group. We hoped it was just a wasp sting, or she was feeling unwell. But due to the swelling around the face, we quickly rushed out medicines from town, and the mahouts and vet assistants went out to try and administer treatment. However, after a short battle, Diamond succumbed, and passed away very quickly, by 10pm that evening.

Due to the rapid onset of symptoms and swelling, our vet team here in Cambodia and International consultants, suspected it was EEHV (Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus). Collaborating with government veterinarians, a team was able to quickly come out and take samples for testing, which results confirmed our suspicions of EEHV. 

One always tries to grasp for answers especially when such a young one passes, but so far with this virus there is no reason why it affects some elephants and not others. This has been a massive shock to our staff, and especially to our dedicated elephant care staff who care for these animals 7 days a week, and we are all trying to come to terms with this sudden loss. 

We are so thankful to everyone that has supported our ability to care for Diamond, to make the couple of years she was with us happy and free in the forest.  

You can learn more about the devastating EEHV disease here: www.EEHVinfo.org

Gee Pael (Pearl) 

We are continuing to treat Pearl’s leg injury with daily medications and a cleaning regime. We are very thankful to have the continued support from Dr Trish and also the assistance of Dr Martyna and the team from Idsara. They were both able to come out and assess Pearl in person, helping us to adjust her treatments and medications. Both are also helping with funding for her medications and extra food supplements. With the loss of her calf, the team were fearful of how Pearl would react. Thankfully we haven’t seen any additional stress or major depression. We are comforted to see her appetite and energy levels increasing and are hopeful that her leg injury is improving. We are still providing daily medical support and treatment, and monitoring her closely. Your support of Pearl has allowed us to provide as much care as this special elephant requires, throughout these challenging months.  

Nung Bra (Ruby)

Though we still haven't found her an elephant companion since the passing of her friend Sambo, Ruby is doing well. Her longstanding mahout, Yel, and her new mahout Norm, keep her company as she forages in the forest. We are happy with her energy and appetite levels. We are thankful for your support, as we are able to provide her some supplemental food in this dry season, to keep this small girl healthy!

Gee Yul (Easy Rider)

We are happy to report that lovely Easy Rider, despite losing her companion Gee Nowl in March, is still confidently marching through the forests at EVP. With the recent dry season, guests have enjoyed watching her pull up roots, or push down trees, to get to whatever vegetation she can find.  Your support allows us to ensure Easy Rider, and her caring mahout Sophea, have what they need to continue to keep this big girl strong and healthy.  

Hen

These past months have been extremely dry, and we are all wishing for the rains to start. With the dry season, the forests around EVP have seen the increased presence of wild elephants in the area. The team had quite a scare in recent weeks, when a wild bull elephant came close to Hen. The team, and communities surrounding EVP, took quick action to try to encourage the wild elephant to go back into the forest and away from Hen. The team was fearful for any additional injury to Hen, and it was great to see the team and the community band together to ensure Hen’s continued health. Your support allows us to continue to ensure Hen receives the best care possible.  

Gee Bloh (Doe)

This big beautiful lady is usually one of our most healthy, but the mega dry season has brought the issues of scratchy bamboo and this poor girl has been treated for some wounds to her lady areas. Other than that, she has been doing well, spending more time in the northern valley with Darling by her side. They have found some previously unused areas of the river, which are really beautiful and have been a favourite for our guests to visit.

Bong Kong (Darling)

With all the old ladies feeling the impacts of this long dry season, we have started to increase Darlings supplements as well. She is also one of our older elephants, so is now munching on banana trees and extra fruit at night time. She is happy spending her time in the rivers and browsing bamboo during the day. 

Sadly for the elephant population of Cambodia, the traditional owners of Doe & Darling lost their only other elephant, a beautiful bull earlier this year. It was a tragic case where they sent him grazing deep in the forest near their remote village and he was shot, suspected hunters/poachers mistook him for a wild elephant. There are no clear answers, but it shows that the dangers in the forest are not just for wild elephants and another reason traditional owners are facing increasing difficulties to look after their elephants as they have done so for thousands of years. 

As always, we appreciate your support in helping us to be able to care for Doe & Darling, and give these families alternative options to care for their elephants in the safety of the sanctuary. 

Ning Wan

Ning Wan has been showing her age as well these last few months, with the dry season really taking a toll on the old lady's skin and energy. She seems to be doing ok on the diet she currently has of rice, fruit, cucumbers and tamarind. However we do see her old caring nature give way to some grumpy granny moments. However this is the beauty of sanctuary, that these majestic souls can live out their days in whichever mood they feel like. Following the tragic passing of baby Diamond we had hoped that Ning Wan would move back to Pearl's side as she used to before she gave birth, but it seems she is not that interested any more. We hope with some time they will rekindle their close friendship. Thank you for your support in helping us to provide supplements for Ning Wan. 

Gee Chreng

Following Ning Wan around seems to be Gee Chrengs main pastime. Both elephants have been further away from Pearl the last few months as her leg injury has hindered her movement, but interestingly Gee Chreng was more interested in staying closer to Pearl and baby Diamond. Probably because of all the extra supplements Pearl is getting, a stay yam or watermelon might roll her way. The passing of the baby seems to have shaken up the social ladder a little and Gee Chreng seems to be more interested in following the smells and trailing after Doe these days. So we will see how that progresses. Thanks again for your continued support for our big lovable Gee Chreng to continue to relax in her environment and make her own choices.

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:

• Visit the Valley