When we returned to FAE, Boonmee was still hanging on. She was brighter than Day One, but still seemed tired so the volunteers watched Boonmee’s behavior but did not perform any TTouches on her. Craniosacral Volunteer Patty Coogan explained, “It’s a dance, how much we can do for them and how much they can take. Hopefully, we’ve showed her that life can be more peaceful if she can make it through.” We’ll continue to watch her and let you know.
FAE's staff inspects Bobo, an 8-year old wild-caught elephant, that arrived at the Elephant Hospital.
The big news today was that a new patient arrived. Bobo was originally a wild-caught elephant that has been held captive by three different mahouts (keepers). Because he was not born into a domesticated elephant community, he is more aggressive and his last keeper stabbed him in the back of his head twice to punish him. Initially, the keeper took him to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center’s (TECC) Hospital. Because the TECC is a government-run center, the elephant keepers received the equivalent of Unemployment Funds for having their elephant stay there through the summer rainy season, when tourism is slow. When the “unemployment” ran out, the keeper took the elephant out of TECC even though the wounds weren’t healed.
When Bobo arrived, Dr. Kay inspected his head by climbing up a scaffold. Upon investigation, she dug out mothballs from a 6-inch deep wound, presumably a knife or bullhook wound inflicted by the keeper. As they washed the wound, it drained out through Bobo’s trunk, so Dr. Kay and Dr. Preecha suspect that the wound is deeper than they thought and has punctured his nasal cavity. Dr. Preecha will have to design and build a small tube to clean the wound and explore just how deep it goes, but it looks like it will take at least 3 months to heal, and that’s only if the owner agrees to keep him at FAE.
Dr. Kay cleans Bobo's head wounds at FAE's Elephant Hospital.
At one point I had to turn off my camera and leave the space to catch my breath. I was overcome with a wave of anger and grief that something so horrible could happen: how CITES laws were overlooked to capture this elephant from the wild in Thailand or Burma; how the owner could be so greedy that he wanted to buy a baby elephant as a status symbol; how the keepers could be so aggressive that they would stab an elephant in the back of a head with a knife or a hook; and, how greed won out again when the elephant’s health was in jeopardy.
I came back after a few minutes and watched Bobo eat his greens. It took me a moment to realize the extra suction noise I heard was coming from the top of his head as he chewed…
-Windy Borman
Director/Producer, The Eyes of Thailand
Photos provided by Jodi Frediani
