| Malai Tong was
born in 1986, and began her working life in the
logging industry. She was rescued and brought to
Elephant Nature Park in December of 2005. While
working with illegal logging in Tak province in
2003, Malai Tong fell victim to a landmine.
Sadly, this is a fate common to many elephants
in that line of work. As far as land mine
victims go, she is a lucky one, as the front
portion of her foot remains and she can actually
bare some weight on it. Her back left leg is
noticeably shorter than the rest, and her foot
is horribly disfigured.
After the incident, she was given 8 months to
rest before heading back to work, this time in
Bangkok. Malai Tong was sent to beg on the
streets. With the injury and disfigurement, she
could make more money for her new mahout. Street
begging is the most hazardous line of work for
elephants, and is illegal in Thailand. During
one of the many crackdowns on this activity,
Bangkok police ordered Malai Tong’s mahout to
take her and leave the city. At that time she
was moved out to Isaan province, to beg on the
streets there instead.
Lek found Malai Tong at the Surin elephant
roundup in Nov 2005. She was standing in a
field, bobbing her head, swinging her trunk, and
swinging her injured leg - all in unison. This
sort of repetitive motion is a sure sign of a
disturbed elephant. Lek had not gone to Surin
looking to buy an elephant, but as soon as she
saw poor Malai Tong standing there, swaying like
that, her mind was set on a rescue. Funds for
this rescue were secured with thanks to Nancy
Mann.
When she arrived at the park, Malai Tong was
immediately interested in the babies and
becoming an auntie, but sadly all the auntie
jobs were taken by older and more dominant
females. She really wanted to be in a family
group, but didn’t know where to go. Happiness
arrived in the form of a mother and week-old
baby who needed maternity leave. Both were thin
and weak. Upon their arrival Malai Tong rushed
over to them and began her job as auntie. Mother
and baby were very happy for her help. The baby
immediately fell in love with her and tried
suckling from her breast. Mother Mae Toh Koh
seemed to sigh with relief, knowing she could
relax and start to heal with Malai Tong’s help
caring for the baby.
Now Malai Tong is part of a bigger family,
with 2 more elephants joining her group,
Sri Nuan and
Dok Ngern. It is
wonderful to see them grazing peacefully
together. Hopefully one day Malai Tong will take
interest in one of the males and have a baby of
her own, with other females vying for the
coveted position of auntie to her baby. [news
of her rescue]
Malai Thongs injuries
*Records and official documentation of elephants
of more than 10 years ago are sketchy at best.
The dates we use are our best estimates.
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