Lom
Lom (Umbrella in Thai) is the life and soul of the BLES family. Since her arrival at BLES in July 2006, she has enchanted everyone with her bouncy, bubbly, and boisterous ways. Lom’s early life began on the streets of Chiang Mai, used for begging to the tourist trade. The visages of her struggles from that time are still evident. Scars remain from endless hours of being dragged through the streets by her ears and legs and being shot from behind with an air gun.
Katherine and Anon discovered Lom while searching for another baby elephant that they’d been notified of by the local police. Life on the streets for this particular calf was caustic. By the time Katherine and Anon found him, he was already dead. However, the search led them to find two other babies working on the streets. The calves were skinny, filthy, and visibly distressed with sugar cane piled on their backs for tourists to purchase and feed to them. If sales aren’t made, these elephants simply don’t eat. Disoriented and undernourished, there was no question that both calves were in a critical state. Katherine e-mailed pictures with details to everyone she knew and requested advice from fellow elephant-welfare organizations. Persuaded by the condition of both babies, an international spectrum of sympathizers donated funds, but not quickly enough. Although Anon and the owners had established an agreed-upon price, when cash was not in-hand, the owners disappeared with the calves.
Desperate to locate them, Anon set up teams of people to scout major cities to find the elephants. When a credible sighting was reported, Anon drove the four hours to Chiang Mai only to find a different calf. By the time he returned to the Sanctuary, another report had come in and Anon immediately returned to Chaing Mai. Luckily, the new sighting involved the two calves originally sought. The funds collected were drastically short, so The Elephants’ Umbrella Fund offered the outstanding amount. Unfortunately, that amount was only enough to save one calf. As Lom was the smaller, younger, and more distressed of the two, with painful deliberation, she was chosen for the Sanctuary. Survival of the remaining calf has never been confirmed.
Lom’s adjustment to BLES was slow and strenuous for both the humans and elephants. Due to her life on the streets, she lacked basic survival skills. Not only was she unable to select which grasses to eat, she had no experience eating grass and instead grabbed for trash and plastic bags. In response to the abuse she suffered, she exhibited panic, unpredictable reactions, and repelled from touch. Running water and loud noises terrified her. When released to graze with the other elephants, she’d run in fear. Lom’s gradual transformation to a fully socialized member of the herd is a credit to the talent of the mahouts and the guidance she received from Pang Tong. Lom became the calf that Pang Tong lost; Pang Tong became the mother that Lom had never known. To this day, they are inseparable and continue to thrive in the comfort of each other’s companionship.
Pang Tong (Mrs. Gold in Thai) is the mother of the Sanctuary's namesake, Boon Lott, and the matriarch of the BLES family. Her life before BLES was filled with abuse and distress. When Katherine and Anon met her owner, he proudly shared his personal story of beating, starving, and working
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Somai is a rare case of an elephant donation and was the first arrival to BLES. One of the few lucky elephants left in Thailand, he was used for sustainable logging and well cared for by his village owners.
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Lom (Umbrella in Thai) is the life and soul of the BLES family. Since her arrival at BLES in July 2006, she has enchanted everyone with her bouncy, bubbly, and boisterous ways. Lom's early life began on the streets of Chiang Mai, used for begging to the tourist trade. he visages of her struggles from
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Plai Tong Jai (Heart of Gold in Thai) is the tallest member of the BLES family. When Anon overheard a man complaining that his elephant was a useless waste of time, Anon asked to see the elephant for himself. The elephant, in reference, was Plai Tong Jai, an incredibly tall, handsome but
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Mare Boon Mee In her early 80's, Mare Boon Mee (Mother of good fortune in Thai) is the oldest member of the BLES family. In March 2007, a panicked owner contacted Katherine and Anon to urgently request their help with his dying cow, Boon Mee. Katherine and Anon examined her and found that although she was
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Pang Noi (Miss Little in Thai) is the smallest of our adult females and our most ambitious rescue to date. When three-out-of-five owners of a pregnant logging elephant visited BLES to propose a sale, Katherine and Anon had no idea what a confusing and complicated rescue they were about to conduct.
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Star Star's birth on September, 18, 2007 was cause for huge celebration. Not only was she the first calf to be born at BLES, she was the first calf to be born in our village of Baan Tuek. A traditional logging community, elephants have played a central role in the lives of the villagers here for centuries.
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Seedor Yai (Mr. Big in Thai) is massive, standing an impressive 2.8 metres and weighing 4 tons. Like most of the elephants in north Thailand, Seedor Yai worked as a logging elephant until his elderly owner retired, retiring his bull with him. When the owner became ill and no longer able to support both his bull and his family,
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Pang Suai In her thirties, Pang Suai (Miss Beautiful) is the newest member to join the BLES family. Standing true to her name, Pang Suai (beautiful) is a physically stunning elephant. She is large and strong, but sadly these atributes have worked against her.
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Tong Yui & Bong Beng Bles was first made aware of the plight of two street elephants back in June 2008 when Katherine received a heartfelt email from Jan Tunks. Jan wrote of how she had befriended Tong Yui, the elder of the two elephants, while traveling around Thailand in November 2007.
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Mee Chok (Blessed) was just twenty months old when BLES successfully rescued him. Previously known as Pheung Yai (Bumble Bee), this baby elephant had known nothing but the inside of the filthy shack he was chained and shackled in.
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Wassana The rescue of Wassana (Fortune) was full of dramatic twist and turns and emotional ups and downs. BLES founders Katherine and Anon discovered Wassana by pure accident when following up on a call about a baby elephant living in unacceptable conditions.
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