Update on The Elephant Lady.

So it was for the 3rd or 4th time since I'd left that the Elephant Nature Park run by Lek - better known as the Elephant lady - was raided. Before the last raid there was word that an arrest warrant had been issued for Lek and so I proceeded to write about it.  Fortunately, because of protests from the Volunteers and supporters and with the media descending on the park, she was not arrested. Apparently Lek has been given some time to show all her paperwork for the Elephants.

Lek started the centre with just 2 Elephants that she rescued. With the help of volunteers who have bought/purchased Elephants that were suffering at the hands of their owners, or begging on the streets for their owners, she now has 36 elephants of which 2 are babies.

An American philanthropist donated the land of about 50 acres on which she established the rehab. She now has about a 100 acres. Lek's example to showcase how sustainable wildlife tourism should be conducted is exemplary. This is the only way Thailand can save the plight of the endangered South Asian elephant. She is working tirelessly to promote the idea that Elephants can learn through positive reinforcement. If this applies to us humans, why shouldn't it with animals?

This is the update from the ENP fb page after the latest raid. (and here is the link to a story from The Nation following up on it)

Elephant Nature Park

Update: Today's raid ended with NO confiscations or arrests due to incomplete paperwork and the support of our volunteers, press and legal team. I will post more details of this tomorrow.

Thank you all for your kind support - you have helped to keep us safe

Glad to know that Lek was not arrested. Lek's park is not like the many other parks in Thailand where Elephants are used for entertainment and amusement. There is no elephant riding at her park and all her elephants have been rescued.  How some other parks get their elephants has been rather questionable so it is understandable that the govt/authorities need to check paperwork of the elephants once in a while.

However, the way it is being conducted and the way Lek is being targeted is the problem. She is an outspoken critic of the mistreatment of these pachyderms and the industry which employs over a million people makes these elephants "cash cows". Hence there is the need to acquire more elephants and this comes through forced breeding, which is another horrific process, or simply  capturing them from the wild. This illicit trade (all the way from Burma, Thailand and the region) involves local govt authorities. No wonder they want to find ways to shut her up.

In the end I hope the goodwill of Lek and the thousands of supporters she has from all over the world,  not to forget the many Thai's too, will prevail.  I also hope that the Thai's will realize that by destroying the elephant - an animal at the centre of their lives - is essentially destroying themselves and their own natural heritage.