Day 3 at the MEF and still having an amazing time volunteering.  Absolutely love bathing the elephants in the morning, so much more of a workout then I expected.

It’s such a time waster watching their individual personalities.

Paul and Julie

Perahera at Rambukkana

On Thursday 8 December, our tusker Raja took part in a Perahera at nearby Rambukkana.  A Perahera  is a  festival to celebrate some part of the Buddhist culture, in this case it was to celebrate the bringing of the Bodhi tree to Sri Lanka from India.   The Bodhi tree is very important to Buddhists as it was under the Bodhi tree that Buddha received enlightenment.  Raja was one of two elephants to take part and they were dressed magnificently in velvet and gemstones.  The procession was very eye-catching with local girls dancing, drummers, monks and Kandyan dancers entertaining the crowd lining the main street.  A number of the girls are students at the school where I  teach three times a week and they were very happy to see me and gave me beaming smiles.  For my part, it was very special to take part, even in a tiny way, in something that means a lot to them and to try and understand their culture a little more than I do at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great day for the elephants!

Staff and volunteers are working really hard on an enrichment program and in preparation for the new enclosure arriving soon we are getting the elephants used to being more social.

Todays session began by hiding some tasty treats into a large stone bucket and with the mahouts near by allowing the elephants to graze and roam as they please. The mahouts need to be close by initially until the elephants are more used to each others very close company and until the fence is installed. We also introduced Bandara to the group. Todays session included Raja, Rani and Bandara.

Raja headed straight for a tasty looking tree until he sniffed out the treats hidden by the volunteers! He then went to introduce himself to Bandara who is still shy and was less eager to explore. Rani wandered alone for a while but made repeated trips back assistant Mahout Sandaruan without any prompting from him. She then went to hang out with the boys until Pooja joined the party and then the girls who are great friends had a nice cuddle and Rani started following Pooja around.

This will become a daily session in the afternoons here at MEF and we are all very excited to see how the elephants develop and react to these important changes.

 

New Member of the Family!

Yesterday we welcomed a new arrival into the MEF herd, meet Bandara!

He is a 30ish year old male who works with Mahouts Sunil and assistant Sissera. Bandara has come from a hard 15 year long career of logging and working giving tourist rides using heavy and dangerous Howdahs.  He has some now healed wounds on his hips from the working equipment.

He spent a good first night with us and is eating well, are hoping to fatten him up a bit as he is underweight. We are allowing him to settle for a few days before a vet comes to give him a full assesment to check his physical and mental health, in the mean time he is being kept slightly apart from the other elephants until they all get used to eachother and will not be working immediately with volunteers.

Although he has very healthy feet his walk is not as easy as it should be and we are very keen to check for any spinal damage that may have been caused by the Howdahs and logging equipment. He is also reputed to have behavioural issues, probably caused by the illtreatment he likely received as a working elephant and he came from an area that had little water meaning he wuld have dehydrated and unable to bathe properly.

His owners are however very caring and will visit him every month, they were struggling to afford his upkeep which was why he ended up in the logging industry. We are hoping that with the love and care he will receive at MEF he will soon be a very happy elephant and that his personality will reflect this.

November 16, 2011

Today is my third day here as a volunteer here at MEF. It is a very great experience here working with the elephants up close. They are amazing animals. So far since we have been here, the volunterrs have been able to help clean up the elephants sleeping area, make and feed the elephants vitamin balls, assist the elephants with painting (yes they are quiet good artists), wash the elephants in the river, and watch as the mahouts and elephants work together throughout the day. It is also very interesting to observe and learn about the Sri Lankan culture. There is a lot that I have already learned in my 3 days here and I am sure I will continue to learn a great deal more in the next few weeks. I believe my time spent here will be very enjoyable and informative.

Sad news

It is with deepest regret and sorrow that we at MEF have to announce the passing of Sumana. She died peacefully yesterday evening Friday 28^th October 2011.

After a long battle with various health problems, Sumana was just too tired to carry on. She has remained patient and always shown amazing bravery and grace throughout her treatment. A truly inspiring elephant, she charmed everyone she met, she was well loved and will be deeply missed by us all here.

A small service attended by a priest will be taking place at 10:30am today and she will be buried onsite here at MEF, her final home where we hope she was as happy as she made us.

Please let us all remember the good times with Sumana, we would be grateful if you could share with us your memories and favourite photos of this remarkable lady who is now free from pain and at peace.  Sleep well Sumana.