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For the baby elephant Boon Rod, it was a day to remember. She was
finally reunited with her friends after devastating floods destroyed
her home at the Elephant Haven sanctuary in Thailand.
Boon was swept away when a typhoon hit the north of the country and
destroyed two huge dams. The amazing story of her survival, and how the
elephants risked their own lives to rescue drowning people, has only
just emerged.
"We were saved by the elephants," says Lek Chailert, who runs the
animal sanctuary near Chang Mai in northern Thailand. "We rescued the
elephants from their cruel owners and they repaid us by helping when we
needed them most."
When the floodwaters hit the sanctuary, the mother elephants tried to
save Boon and the other youngsters by hoisting them above the water
with their trunks. But six-year-old Boon wasn't strong enough to stay
afloat and was swept away. As he disappeared beneath the floodwaters
the other elephants cried out and trumpeted to him.
"The elephants love each other so much," says Lek. "They genuinely feel it when one of their friends dies."
An elderly elephant also appeared to be losing the struggle to stay
alive. Blind for nearly a decade, Jokia could only find her way around
by holding onto the tails of the other elephants with her trunk. During
the typhoon she'd become separated from the herd. She was screaming
with terror and looked certain to drown. But one of the mother
elephants saw her plight and risked her own life by swimming to her
aid. She led Jokia to safety by encouraging her to hang onto her tail.
But then something even more remarkable happened. A group of sanctuary
workers had sought safety in a leaky old boat. Rocket, one of the older
elephants, realised that the boat was sinking and forged his way across
the river to help them. He plucked survivors out of the river with his
trunk and kept the boat afloat with his shoulders.
When the storm ended, a scene of utter devastation greeted the
survivors. Every building in the sanctuary was in splinters. But harder
to bear was the loss of Boon. Just a few months earlier, Lek had
rescued her from the streets of Chang Mai. Her cruel owners had forced
her to do tricks for tourists. She'd been regularly beaten, forced to
drink beer and burnt with cigarettes.
Lek was determined to save her. Search parties were sent out and they
eventually found Boon alive and well. Her 98-year-old grandmother had
apparently tracked her down and helped her survive the storm. She was
bitterly cold and covered in cuts and bruises but in otherwise good
spirits.
Although she survived the typhoon, Boon will soon have to return to her
cruel owners. Under Thai law, Lek must soon buy Boon or return her. The
Elephant Haven sanctuary has been left bankrupt by the storm and cannot
pay off Boon's owners.
The British charity, the Bill Jordan Foundation for Wildlife, is now
raising money to help re-build the sanctuary and to buy Boon.
"Unless we raise the money to buy Boon her owners will take her back,"
says Lek. "She'll be forced back onto the streets of Chang Mai to do
tricks for tourists. I can't bear to let it happen. I'll do everything
I can to save her but I might not be able to."
Donations to help rebuild Boon's sanctuary can be made through the Bill
Jordan Foundation for Wildlife at 01202 700037 or
http://www.wildlifedefence.net
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