Tuesday 22 September 2015

Kabu, the Elephant who will touch the hearts of many


Kabu is indeed one elephant who will touch the hearts of many, and will become a beacon for other elephants with a similar cry for help no matter the type of exploitation. More people will become aware of many elephants lives through her and others such as Raju, Sunder, Pearl, Annie or Carla.

As you will all know by now we support, send strength and follow, with a massive heart, many animals and humans in need of help. On the Elephant front  Raju, Sunder, Pearl, Carla and others have been on our List and will remain there until their end of time. 

This story of Kabu has totally touched our hearts and indeed many others we are sure. But if you have not heard of her, perhaps we can share her life from here on in with you and keep you updated regarding her progress. 


Kabu, one of the many logging elephants, who should have been pulled off this job many years ago . . take a look for yourself , has to be one of the worst cases of a working elephant. She had been dictated to work, once again by human kind, with hugely painful legs and shoulders until yesterday when Lek Chailert  and her Team as well as Volunteers at Elephant Nature Park started, with Kabu,  the long afternoon walk to a point where she could be loaded safely and then transported over a 12 hour journey to Elephant Nature Park  in Thailand. 

Words need say no more as the pictures are enough, they may bring a tear to your eye, just as the link at the top to her video footage may have done, but it is so  important that the world we live in truly knows what is going on with, in this instance, the elephants of our world. 



How heart rendering is this dreadful picture 




We can not believe that any one would ride an elephant in this condition



Lek and her team asked the rider to get off Kabu . .  he respected their wishes!




One of the many breaks they took to get to Kabu's rescue vehicle



Kabu being encouraged to walk a bit further 



On the way to Elephant Heaven




On the road


And still on the road 



Kabu catching a well deserved nap, perhaps with a hint that she 
is now surrounded by people who care  but more importantly silently 
knowing that she will never ever have to pull another log or logs out of any rough 
and hard going terrain.   

More Photo's to follow . . . 

We can not wait for her to arrive at Elephant Nature Park where she has a wonderful sand bed, thanks to Darrick Thomson, to support her body and aching joints and of course cheeky Navaan and his Aunties to smell, touch, massage and just generally share elephant time, but more importantly chain and spur free. 

Kabu's story needs to go viral, it needs to be heard in every land of our country so that others never suffer the same, perhaps you could help to spread the word, share this with your local news station or the BBC  world Service.

Kabu's arrival, 12 hours later . .  and how humbling are these photographs . . . . as humbling is the amazing bed that Darrick Thomson had created out of sand for her and her deformed shoulders, knees and back. 

The emotions that all who awaited her arrival must have been sky high especially when they saw her walking with their very own eyes. We totally feel for them and Kabu.




Here she makes contact with a young elephant, perhaps reminding 
her of the calves she had taken from her, which we believe Lek is trying to track down. 


We asked Darrick yesterday if he could send us a picture of her bed that he had so thoughtfully created for her body mass and structure, and bless him, through our night he sent a video clip of her assessing it with a view to her lying down.  Fingers crossed that she did and if she didn't we are sure she will soon. She must be truly exhausted. We will forward a picture of her special bed later on today . . . 


Yesterday Logging and today - photographs thanks to Lek and Elephant Nature Park






These photographs say it all . . freedom forever 
no more logging, no more whipping, no more chains
no more ridden work but more importantly no more beating. 

But in the meantime, if you are passionate about our elephants of tomorrow and want to know other pages that support elephants in other parts of the world and pages that are supporting an 'ivory ban' which would make sure that in 15 years time we don't just have digital elephants left, then feel free to go to this link and scroll through any that trigger your hearts strings.  On behalf of all suffering, chained, electric probed, broken  spirited elephants and calves  of today thank you.  Link to other facebook pages 

A wonderful gentleman, a friend of Lek and Darrick, who is sadly in hospital has also asked us to put a link in here in the event that any one would like to help one of 21 Elephants, all of whom were confiscated by the Thai Government from Kanchanaburi Camp. ENP have a year to find the funds for this otherwise they will go to the first bidder and possibly end up in a zoo a circus or as a logger or tourist elephant! Many of these elephants are related, some young, some older, some with mental health issues, but ultimately they know each other and separation is one of the biggest issues for a natural herd animal like an elephant. So, to learn more please follow this link -  thank you.  As an update on this paragraph, as of this day 150929 15 of these elephants future has been secured thanks to everyone's donations, if you were one of them who contributed to this, thank you so, so, so much.

As an added footnote, we would truly like to thank every single one one of you who have shared this post today,  there have been a mass of shares which must, surely, have spread the word about the life of many of our elephants and their cry for help. True factual stories like Kabu's will already have helped 1000's more people be supportive of our Elephants cry and wish to have their voice and choice heard. So for those of you who had no idea such dreadful existences happens, please, stay with us, comment on any messages you see on any of the Elephants facebook Pages, but above all thank you for speaking from your hearts. Eventually hearts will rule the world.

One of the saddest bits of news regarding Kabu is the way her bull calf died . .  he died during the 'crushing' 


"Sadly, this is the RULE not the exception. MANY hundreds die during the "crush" OR "phajaan" as it's called every year; (breaking the elephants spirit and body)" says Carol Vooght Boldt

"Half of the elephants put through phajaan(breaking the spirit) will die. Of those that survive, “About half will go mad,” says Elephant Nature Park founder Lek Chailert.


On to happier news  -  another update on Kabu and how quickly Lek and Darrick at Save Elephant Foundation and Elephant Nature Park manage to get down to their Mission of helping Kabu. As you can see from this photograph taken by Lek's team they have started to desensitize her to an xray machine so that they can assess the best way forward.

Little did Kabu ever think that humans would go to this wonderful extreme for her. 

We are so, so pleased that she has been given this chance and that so many people are now following her progress through Save Elephant Foundation, Elephant Nature Park, all the people who are posting on facebook as well as individuals Sites similar to this one. 

However, we also have to thank the individuals who are helping to fund her future and of course any forthcoming treatment which we are sure will not be cheap.  Perhaps if you have a few spare dollars you would be interested in this link. 

Kabu is definitely a beacon for other elephants safety, sanity and over all well being. 

On behalf of her, thank you for following her .. 



We will be sharing more information and photographs on our facebook page and will add more here in due course. 

In the meantime please keep sending Kabu strength and courage to cope with her next stages of her book of life and send Lek energy to find Kabu's little female calf. .  what a joyful day that will be indeed.

Third day in and look at her now . . . free to wander, free to choose whether she goes as close to humans or not ..  this next photograph is beautiful, it makes you want to put your hand through the screen to touch her ..  thank you Lek for posting these beautiful photographs.  . . .



and this one, look at the swirls she has made with her trunk, you can almost here the water splishing and splashing.  .  Elephant heaven indeed. No chains, no rope restraining her, just the knowledge that she can trust . . .  



But best of all for today has to be this beautiful video where you can feel the sheer joy of being able to scratch her body, every muscle and nerve ending, the decades she has been waiting to be able to do this makes today even more special. Just fantastic. Interesting to see that she seems to be able to put a fair amount of pressure on her negative shoulder, making us think that indeed her bones have grown to suit her disability. 



And here is a resume on Kabu's past, thanks to Lek Chailert and her team at Elephant Nature Park, Save Elephant Foundation and of course all their Volunteers who joined them on this Mission of rescuing Kabu . . .  a heart filled thank you to you all. 

Press here Kabu's History

And a massive thank you to the BBC World Service for organising this Documentary 

We have had a lovely message posted on our facebook page from a Mr Phillip Storry, who was lucky enough to be volunteering at Elephant Nature Park to greet Kabu on her arrival. So from the 'elephants mouth' as they could say " We first met Kabu last Tuesday night when she arrived at the enp. The next day we got to help build a bed for her as she sleeps in the face plant position as she can not get up and down like normal elephants at this stage. At 3.30 pm we got to witness a lot of the elephants meeting Kabu for the first time ,this was special as there was a little noise and a lot of trunk touching and smelling done by the herd. At 4 pm we got to walk with Lek and her team to the river (approx 300 metres ) she covered this walk with ease. She was then splashed and bathed with water , you could she she was lapping up the loving. After several minutes she again took off and crossed the river to see what was on the other side......I am guessing she loves her new home"

Thank you so much Phillip for your wonderfully refreshing words and for truly giving us Kabu's feeling of total relief. 

Remember you to can volunteer at Elephant Nature Park


And the latest photo - does this not just make your heart totally fill up with happiness. 
Freedom to choose, freedom to have her own voice -
Just as it should be for all Elephants.

More to follow, . . .

And just a couple of weeks later and here she is . . . 





Not a working day in sight,
Nor a human screaming, 
No strangling of neck or feet 
or ropes burning or chains a rattling!
Just kindness from all she meets,
Not aches from all the pulling
or the sores from all the beatings.

Happiness, Contentedness,
Love, care and a mass of attention
yet time to assess by her new Fig Tree,
Time for Kabu to totally feel free.


Thank you all at Elephant Nature Park


And to a photograph taken on 3rd November 2015 -  thanks to Jodi at Elephant Nature Park. This picture says it all. 




The smiles, the companionship, the trust, the happiness in her smile and her eyes gleaming with


'At last I am free, 

I am able to be me,

My heart is filled with Glee,

I have kind friends here you see, 

they don't strike or hurt me, 

and I'll never ever have to pull any trees,

Thank you all and every one at ENP'




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2 comments:

  1. do anybody know whats wrong with her leg???? can it be better now she stops working??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Sisse,, Her Leg was apparently damaged by a log when she was a calf at foot with her Mum . . so she has had this issues for years. We are sure Lek and her team will, in time, find the best way to ease her issues. Obviously her bone structure, as she has grown, has grown to suit the ailing leg. So her Muscles, Ligament and bone structure wil l be different to most elephants. Hope this helps to answer your question.

    ReplyDelete