Home Elephant Conservation Center
Sayaboury, Laos
  After a 2 1/2 hour ride from Luang Prabang I arrive at a lake that we had to cross on a small ferry to reach the Elephant Conservation Center



Approaching the Center's grounds
   



We dock, and climb the path...
 



...to our cabins
   



Mine
   


and shortly we're introduced to Ken,
   


our guide for the next couple of days...  
 
   


....and to the rest of the group with whom I'll spend the next couple of days 
 
   


Soon we're off to watch the elephants eating...

18-second video
   
 
23-second video
   


...and on the way to bathing 
 
   
   

30-second video
   
 
   
 
 9-second video
   


An integral part of the operation is the hospital 
 
   


with its purpose-built treatment dock 
 
   


where Anabel prepares to...
   



...scrub, and....
 
   


...check those molars 
 
   
One of the most fascinating parts of the conservation center is the enrichment area.

Because these elephants were not raised in the wild, they need to be trained to forage for food.

Here's Ken, carting some food for us to hide
   
The enrichment area is set up with numerous places to hide food--in tires on the ground, in a box attached to a tree

Note the wooden box attached to the tree at center

The front cover slides up to open, and is attached to a rope that loops over a branch and hangs down

The elephant tugs on the rope to open the door

Then--while  the door is still open--food must be accessed with the trunk.

Very difficult to coordinate!
   


Food is also placed in other containers mounted on trees,

and under logs,

    
   


and in a barrel with holes, suspended from a cable

as well as other spots in the enrichment area
 
   


Then we retreated to the viewing platform
   



to await the arrival of the elephants
   


They come, and start nosing around (literally)

39-second video
   


and find the food stuffed in the white can

29-second video
   




and in the blue barrel

21-second video



then wander away to search other spots

13-second video
   



the wooden box is particularly frustrating for them

35-second video
  The final video is lengthy, and presented merely to show the patience, perseverence, and frustration involved in multiple tries (modestly successful) of puzzling out how to access the food hidden in the tires

Shown are two elephants:  one trying to access the food in the bottom of two tires; the other the food in one tire

The video pans between them
If you don't want to watch the whole 7-minute video, you can skip around:

Two tires
0:0 to 3:18
4:40 to 5:17
6:14 to 6:48

One tire
3:26 to 4:06
5:23 to 6:14
6:56 to 7:32

7 minutes, 32 seconds video
  Lee's home page

Laos 2017 Index

Next     Village Vist Ban Na Auw