Elephant Rescue: Mee Boon Comes Home to Elephant Nature Park

Photo courtesy of Elephant Nature Park and Save Elephant Foundation.

At our fundraising events with Lek Chailert in April, we raised $100,000 to support Lek’s efforts to rescue abused elephants. With these funds, Lek Chailert and Save Elephant Foundation were able to rescue blind elephant Mee Boon and bring her to her new home at Elephant Nature Park. Below is her story, which they shared on the Elephant Nature Park facebook page, and the words and images documenting the rescue below are theirs. Thank you so much for your support, we could not have done this without you.

“A couple of months ago I heard the story of a blind elephant working in a tourist camp. I went to visit her to assess her physical status and living conditions. Mee Boon had been in this camp for about five years. Prior to this, she worked in logging camps. It was then that she lost sight in her left eye from an unknown injury.
Her last owner said that Mee Boon could still see with her right eye when she was bought, but a few months later her right eye also lost vision. It became difficult for Mee Boon to walk around. She walked slowly and was quite afraid. She was no longer good for their business because the area where they worked was mountainous terrain, and the elephant must be able to walk up and down steep hills and go to the creek and a water fall. Mee Boon could no longer do that. So, for years, she just stood in the same small place, doing nothing.
They announced recently that they were wanting someone to help her out from their place.
I would like to thank Allene Lapides from Santa Fe, New Mexico, who donated the funds to take Mee Boon out of her suffering. Thanks to the group of Trunks Up Santa Fe, to Singleton Rankin and all her team who have helped to bring a new life to this beautiful girl.
From this day, we are privileged to provide care for Mee Boon. We will find a way for her to join with others, and to know the joy of relaxed living embraced by the deep bonds of friendship with her own kind.”

— Lek Chailert, Save Elephant Foundation

Photo courtesy of Elephant Nature Park and Save Elephant Foundation.

Photo courtesy of Elephant Nature Park and Save Elephant Foundation.

On the Mee Boon’s journey to Elephant Nature Park, Lek Chailert wrote this:

“Mee Boon is taking a journey to her freedom. To rescue an elephant, to have an elephant get onto a truck can be the most difficult part of the adventure. Many elephants have a terrible memory of being moved from one place of work to the next, often accompanied by further hardship on arrival, as a new owner would assert control. The smell of a truck can incite fear and panic, making loading a challenge. We don’t want our elephants to be distressed or fearful. We take time, and also prepare the truck to be more welcoming, so that the elephant can have some comfort when embarking the truck. We made a jungle truck for Mee Boon, and it took only a couple of minutes for her to readily walk in. We have secured her support rails for transport now and are ready to take her home. ”

— Lek Chailert, Save Elephant Foundation

Photo courtesy of Elephant Nature Park and Save Elephant Foundation.

Photo courtesy of Elephant Nature Park and Save Elephant Foundation.

Lek Chailert of Save Elephant Foundation comes to Santa Fe

Last month we had the best visitor! Lek Chailert, of Save Elephant Foundation and Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand, came to Santa Fe. We had three wonderful educational and fundraising events while she was here. There was a luncheon at Shelby House with a beautiful vegan Thai & Vietnamese-inspired menu prepared by Hue-Chan Karels of Open Kitchen Events.

Luncheon with Lek Chailert at Shelby House Santa Fe, photo courtesy of Lek Chailert

Then we had an amazing dinner, followed by a screening and lecture at Violet Crown. In total, about $100,000 was raised for Lek’s efforts to save abused elephants. Thank you so much for all of your support. We could not do this without you!

With Lek at the Violet Crown in Santa Fe, photo courtesy of Lek Chailert

Lek at the Violet Crown in Santa Fe, photo courtesy of Lek Chailert

Lek at the Violet Crown in Santa Fe, photo courtesy of Lek Chailert

Lek at the Violet Crown in Santa Fe, photo courtesy of Lek Chailert

With Lek in Santa Fe, photo by Beau Wattana

WorldWomenWork Adventures: Our trip to Morocco and Kenya

In January, we went on an amazing educational trip to Morocco and Kenya. We met in Marrakesh and stayed there for four days. We had a wonderful guide called Mohammed. We spent a couple of days going with him to the most beautiful palaces and museums. We went the Casbah, and had a lovely time walking around and looking at everything, as well as buying some beautiful things to take home. It’s such a fascinating place. We went up to the Atlas mountains for a hike and a beautiful lunch. Every night we had dinner in superb restaurants. Some of us even took a Moroccan cooking class and learned how to make a chicken tagine

Next, we flew to Nairobi and went to the Olerai House. The Olerai House is a farmhouse in a wildlife sanctuary on Lake Naivasha. It’s run by Iain and Oria Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants. They’ve created an amazing nature preserve on their farm. We had lunch with zebras milling about. They also have giraffes, tommy gazelles, gazelles, hippos, buffalo, vervet monkeys, and more. While we were there, we visited and had lunch at Sirocco house, Oria’s parents house. It was a beautiful space, patterned after a west African king’s palace.

From there we went to Elephant Watch, which was created by Oria. We visited the Save the Elephants Research Center and learned about all of their projects. (You can read more about them on our project page, and in our news.) Then we went out with Samburu guides. These guides knew so much. They have been studying about 600 elephants for the past 15 years. They knew each elephant and the different elephant families. So we had the most intimate experience possible.

Next we went to stay at Sarara Camp. We also visited the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, in the Mathews Mountain Range. The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary takes in orphaned and abandoned elephant calves. Many of these elephants are later released into the wild herds that roam near the sanctuary.

We also went to the Maasai Mara National Reserve and saw everything known to man. We saw cheetahs, lions and so much more. We stayed in a beautiful camp. It was such a magical trip!

WorldWomenWork Adventure Trips are organized every year, as an educational as well as fundraising initiative. A portion of the trip fees go directly to the projects that we support. Read more about these projects on in our News and Projects pages. If you would like to be the first to know about our next trips, sign up for our mailing list.

Save The Elephants and Mama Tembo in Samburu Kenya

photo by Jane Wynyard with Save the Elephants

Mapayon of the Mama Tembos Says: "We feel like we are educators and that we can tell people about elephants and wildlife. Before we were scared of elephants, but now we have learned so much about them and we are grateful."

The pride that these Mamas feel protecting elephants from human beings and gigantic infrastructure projects is inspirational. They are a group of 9 working with Save the Elephants helping to save the largest land mammal; the elephant!

They have had tough lives. Imagine raising 7 children after your partner has left you or been killed in a tribal conflict. They patrol walking 10km a day in the scorching African sun.

Soutine is one of the Samburu orphans studied in the "Orphan Project" We came upon her last winter standing with her 3 week old baby to the side of her family, the Artists, not being completely accepted. This leads to the ability of some young orphan mother's being more able to raise their offspring than others. This river crossing happened after we left and shows Soutine's incredible tenacity in this scary situation.

Exciting Updates for 2018

• New project: Mama Tembo

• WWW shows in San Francisco, New York & Santa Fe

• 2018 Trip: Morocco and Kenya Trip

Soutine age 14, with her trunk resting on the radio collar was one of the first orphans in the WorldWomenWork funded “Orphan Project” with Save the Elephants. Among other findings, Soutine shows the resiliency of young elephants who without their Matriarchs to teach them have to learn on their own. We observed lion marks on the baby, age 3 weeks, and subsequently the baby was caught in a raging current in the Ewaso River and Soutine by her side managed to guide her to shore… She is a good Mother.
What a success story!

---

Sarara Camp

One of the highlights of the Morocco/Kenya trip was spending 2 nights at Sarara, a magnificent camp set in wild beautiful country at the foot of the Matthews Range.. We visited Reteti falling under the magic of the babies, adopting and giving the trip donation; $9,000, to this fabulous Sanctuary.

Grow Back For Prosperity Santa Fe Event and October Updates

"This corrupt, illegal war on wildlife makes losers of us all. The annihilation of wildlife by organised criminal gangs is violent, bloody, corrupt and insidious. It robs communities of their resources, their independence, their opportunities and their dignity. It strips their homes of beauty and diversity. It may even cost some people their lives. And we are all losers as the creatures with which we share this planet are pillaged to extinction." - Dominic Jermey

Click here to read the full Guardian article

The elephant situation in Myanmar is desperate. Elephants are being killed not only for ivory but also for their skin "blood ivory" WorldWomnenWork is pleased to bring this presentation to Santa Fe on Oct. 23rd.

Aung Myo Chit is the founder of the Myanmar nonprofit Grow Back For Prosperity. He is head of Smithsonian Myanmar and has over 15 years experience working with wild and domesticated elephants in Myanmar and leads the Irrawaddy River Dolphin Project. He holds advanced degrees in conservation biology from the University of California, Davis, and James Cook University Australia.
Jon Miceler is a US based conservationist with over 20 years of rural development experience in Myanmar. He is the founder of US based Inner Asia Conservation and was managing director of WWF's Eastern Himalaya Program. Miceler holds an advanced degree in environmental science from Yale University and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

WorldWomenWork presented some of its collection of beautiful things for sale to benefit the conservation efforts of Lek Chailert, Save Elephant Foundation, Thailand, in New York on Sept. 25th at a special evening for Asian Elephants.
Lek was born in northern Thailand. Her love of elephants began when her grandfather, a traditional healer, received an elephant named Tong Kam, in return for saving the life of a young man. The bond that developed between lek and Tong sparked a love and respect for elephants that has shaped the course of her life. The Foundation is dedicated to providing care, assistance and LOVE to Thailand's captive elephants.
TODAY there are over 3000 elephants in CAPTIVITY and only a few 100 left in the WILD.

WorldWomenWork is fighting for all endangered Elephants, Lions and Grevy's Zebra. It is our duty. The world would be a tragic soulless place without them. Please join us. Without you, WWW is nothing!
Thank you for caring and being a part of our passion.

Singer Rankin

Grevy's Zebra Trust in Kenya and Ethiopia and the WorldWomenWork Scholarship Program

Today we need to connect to things that are real and uplift our spirts. The Grevy's Zebra Scout Ladies are just that. The Grevy's Zebra Trust conserves the endangered Grevy's zebra and its fragile habitat in partnership with communities. The scouts monitor them with GPS recordings of their findings. There are estimated to be just over 3000 today. WWW supports the 19 women scouts. These ladies are part of the WWW Nkirreten Project which is equipping local women with the skills to produce their own reusable sanitary pads. It also ensures that girls are not missing out on school due to lack of sanitary pad supplies.

Congratulations to Ngeeti Lempate known as 'Mama Grevy'. She won the 2017 Disney Conservation Hero Award in recognition of her incredible 15 year career as a Grevy's Zebra Scout

“I am so happy and lucky to receive this Disney Award. It means a lot, and it has made me see the importance and contribution of my work to the world in conservation. It is also a celebration not only for me but also for my community - for their support and the chance they gave me to realize my potential in conservation.”

— Ngeeti Lempate 'Mama Grevy'

Retetti, in northern Kenya is the first community owned elephant sanctuary in Africa. These two Grevy's live there too. I met them a year ago when they had just been rescued. Look at them now. They will soon be released into the wild. Another success story.

WWW Scholarship Program

WWW supports 5 girls who attend boarding school in Wamba, northern Kenya. It is such a privilege to visit them and see the strict but inspiring atmosphere they live in. Not only do we have the sanitary pad project but also this. The most important thing we can do is keep girls in school. It only takes $1,000 a year to change one life.

I thank all of you who make the work of WWW possible. I hope you feel inspired too!

Elephant Orphan Project with Save the Elephants

Veterinarians and Orphan Project researchers have sedated a Samburu elephant while attaching a new radio collar.

An estimated 100 African elephants are killed by poachers every day for their ivory and body parts. The victims of poaching reaches far beyond the life that has been taken. The impact of an elephant’s death extends to the family, the herd, and the ecosystem. The Elephant Orphan Project through Save the Elephants in Samburu, Kenya has been monitoring elephants in the Samburu National Reserve for over 15 years. Their research helps us understand the behavior, family ties, and interactions of orphans who have lost their matriarchs to poaching.

How do herds learn important survival skills without a leader? How do their migration patterns change? How does trauma affect behaviors and relationships among the remaining pack? These are the types of questions the Orphan Project is hoping to answer.

Over the course of 2014-15, the Orphan Project has developed a greater insight into the workings of elephant families, and the changes that can occur due to physical and psychological stress. During a recent exchange, Shifra Goldenberg, a PhD Candidate working under George Wittemyer, chair of STE’s scientific board, provided us with this update:

It has been over two years since the first orphaned elephants were radio collared. Their movements have been fascinating. Many seem to be ranging within much smaller subsets of their mothers’ previous ranges, some have completely shifted their ranges. These shifts seem to be connected to social strategies after poaching, associating with new groups, picking up the movement patterns of those groups. In some cases, the ranges are so different from those of their mothers that you would never guess they were from their original families. The collar data are revealing just how flexible these elephants are. Looking at their movement patterns together with their relationships with other families and information on survival and reproduction will give us a better idea of the lasting effects of poaching.

WorldWomenWork has spent the past few years and over $300,000 supporting the Elephant Orphan Project by providing all of the elephant radio collars, administrative support, operations, and research salaries. This year in 2018, we hope to give $400,000. This is the most we have ever given to one organization. With your contributions, we can help The Orphan Project continue their work. Even the smallest contribution makes a difference.

The Orphan Project runs entirely on donations like yours. Next year, we would like to provide the funds for the following operational costs:
10 Radio Collars for Corridor Movement ($2500 each)
10 Collaring operation costs (vet fees, meds, ect. – $1000 per operation)
10 Downloading and database management ($800 per collar)
Field work budget (vehicle repair and fuel) ($15,000/year)
Field researcher support (cost of living $8000/year)
International Travel (2 @ $2500)
University support for graduate student & publishing in peer-reviewed journals ($2000 per paper)

This picture depicts two orphan sisters and their children crossing the Ewaso Nyiro in the dry season. They are from the American Indians family. Their mother, Aztec, died in 2009, likely from drought. In front, sniffing out for what may lie ahead, is Cree. Cree is 16 years old, but was only 10 when her mother died. Following Cree is Zuni. Zuni is 12 years old, but was only 6 when her mother died. Although the full ramifications of being orphaned are not yet understood, it is inspiring that Cree and Zuni were able to recover enough to bear offspring. Cree has a three year old calf, bringing up the rear in the photo. This calf is tuskless – a lucky occurrence for an elephant in today’s world. Zuni had her first calf in March, who is following her.

August 2018 Challenge Grant for Myanmar Elephants

Your generosity made it possible for a grand presentation of all the items on the list below for 30 elephants and their families in May of 2018. They were accepted at first with bewilderment as there is no precedent of this kind of philanthropy in northern Myanmar. We have shown the government what it means to connect with these magnificent animals

2018 WWW Challenge Grant $2500

WWW's Walking with Elephants Myanmar Adventure Feb. 2017 has initiated a new project for us which we are proud to be a part of, knowing that tangible results and hope for many will result with our participation. These ex-logging elephants are in danger of being totally abandoned as the government does not have the money to pay for upkeep of both elephants and Mahouts who are being forced to seek employment elsewhere. The elephants will lose health care and proper food, ultimately succumbing to death via conflict with humans or being sold into dreadful slave labor.

Living next to our elephants gave us the opportunity to witness the strong bond between families and elephants. Here is the list of what is needed to help protect these magnificent creatures and families...a quickly disappearing way of life.

Medicine And Food For One Young Elephant 10 to 55 years:
Tamarind balls and salt - $7.00
De-worming and vitamins - $75.00
Rice bran and Paddy - $12.00
Monthly upkeep for one elephant - $94.00
Total For One Elephant Per Year - $1128.00
One Mahout Family's Needs For One Year:
Mosquito nets and blankets - $8.00
Children's school supplies - $10.00
Children's uniforms - $15.00
Children's backpacks - $10.00
Uniforms - $32.00
Total for 1 Family Per Year $75.00
This is just a small percentage of the 5000 elephants without a job.
PLEASE help us meet this challenge. It is the least we can do! We must never forget the precarious situation for elephants in Myanmar. There maybe as few as 1500 wild elephants left. Not only are they being poached for their ivory and meat but also for their skins to be made into a face powder for the Vietnamese.

BIOGAS UNITS TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND GIRLS
adjacent to Elephant Camps
A concrete structure buried in the ground over which sits a toilet for human use and below animal dung may be added creating clean methane gas, a precious blue cooking flame piped into the house. GIRLS AND MOTHERS no longer need to search for wood, smoke induced diseases are eliminated, cattle are kept near the house reducing forest damage and tiger conflict. Girls and women are free to study and learn skills that lift them out of poverty.

CLEAN COOKING FUEL ENHANCES TIGER CONSERVATION

2 Biogas Units each $700 = $1400
4 households benefit from 2
One time cost for technician from Nepal to help set up the units air food lodging for 3 weeks. $3,500
Transportation of materials $500
Total $5,400

Please we ask for your generosity once again. These elephants and mahout families are part of the WWW family. What a powerful and compassionate way to show that we care!. We were the first group to do a walking trip with elephants in Myanmar. There will never be a basket on an elephant's back again, there will be no riding. 10 mahouts and a forestry official are being sent to Thailand to Lek Chailert's Elephant Nature Park thru the generousity of a WWW donor to learn the loving and kind ways of the perfect elephant world.

Hero Women of Congo

“About 55 elephants are killed every day for their ivory. A rhino is killed every eight hours for its horn. About 317 000 live birds are trafficked annually. A ranger is killed in the line of duty, on average, every three days.
”

— World Wildlife Fund

Soutine age 14, with her trunk resting on the radio collar was one of the first orphans in the WorldWomenWork funded “Orphan Project” with Save the Elephants. Among other findings, Soutine shows the resiliency of young elephants who without their Matriarchs to teach them have to learn on their own. We observed lion marks on the baby, age 3 weeks, and subsequently the baby was caught in a raging current in the Ewaso River and Soutine by her side managed to guide her to shore... She is a good Mother.
What a success story!

HERO WOMEN OF CONGO 

Angelique (Below) one of 6 children, ran away from home to avoid being married in her early teens. “My country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, has always been at war, so the population is often in an insecure situation and poor. Because of these wars, women and girls are raped and many people are dead. I did not want to be illiterate like my Mother.”

Through the help of our donors, WWW has funded Angelique's tuition for nursing school, So that she may return to her region and help other girls and women.

We have also donated six sewing machines and four additional scholarships were awarded, $500 each, to this women’s group.

---

Elephants and women have much in common. Their families are torn apart for many reasons.
They both cope with the loss of their matriarchs from brutal killing and rape for power and money. Soutine, her baby, and these girls from the Congo need our compassion and love.

When we met Bua Loi, she was in chains with a broken leg from logging, had been forcibly bred, then her baby was taken away and she was forced to beg on the streets of Bangkok. We bought Bua Loi with Lek (Far Right) and brought her to the Elephant Nature Park in Kuet Chiang in Northen Thailand.
~
Lek is the Saint of Elephants and the most inspirational person I have ever met...
With great thanks for all that you do for WWW
    -Singer Rankin

Learn more about Save Elephant Foundation and The Elephant Nature Park.