Katherine’s Journal

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1 July 2009

The past month has been great weather wise for BLES and the elephants. It has rained non-stop and this means two things for the elephants — an abundance of fresh, lush food in the forest and mud — lots of it!!

Mud plays such an important part in the daily lives of elephants. It helps rid their bodies of ticks and other biting insects, protects them from the sun, and rolling and rubbing in it provides them with hours of good old dirty fun!

With the rains, come a busy period of planting and land management for the team at BLES. So far, BLES and volunteers have planted over 800 banana trees, three huge fields of corn, and next on the list, is 2000 trees (various species) kindly donated by our local forestry department and our rice field. BLES also hopes to find funding to purchase 300 bamboo bushes and the help to plant them, as this is a particularly fast grower, and is a favorite treat for the elephants.

If you would like to get hands-on with us here at BLES, then feel free to drop me an email regarding availability.

The elephants are all really well and loving all the rain, mud, food, and freedom. Somai has started to join our daily walks again and this has caused great excitement among the ladies. Somai has been showing a lot of interest in Pang Noi and this has bought out a jealous streak in Pang Tong. She repeatedly barges herself between the pair and tries to hold Somai’s attention by touching his genitalia. Somai, of course, loves being the center of attention!

Tong Jai is making great progress since his return from the elephant hospital last month. He is enjoying his daily walks with Anon and has visibly put on weight.

If you want to get up-to-the-minute updates on BLES, you can follow us on Twitter. You can also show your support by joining our facebook group and inviting all your friends to join.

Lots of love to you all,

from us all here at BLES

11 June 2009

Well, Tong Jai has been back from the elephant hospital for a week now and has settled right back in. He is eating well and seems happy to be home. I am certainly relieved to have him and Anon back at BLES.

The girls responded quite vocally to Tong Jai’s presence and Pang Tong in particular was clearly excited.

After the announcement of BLES successfully raising the money for the clinic land (50 000 GBP/ 74 000 USD), I thought that I could relax a bit. Apparently not! Anon and I have been at our local bank everyday, all day since last Friday trying to source the funds that were kindly donated by an anonymous supporter. It has taken several phone calls, many complaints, and hours of waiting, but I can now share with you that the funds have been received. As I write this to you, Anon is in a meeting with the current landowners handing over the money and collecting the deeds for the land!

It is a huge relief to know that the land has been saved. It is so exciting to know that our goal of creating a medical clinic for the elephants is becoming less of a dream and more of a reality as each day goes by — and it is all thanks to you. I really can not thank you enough for your combined help and continued support.

Amongst all the recent dramas with the land and Tong Jai, BLES has opened its doors to a new friend — Seven. Seven was a stray dog who would sit, come rain or shine, outside our local Seven Eleven store. She had a long list of problems when Anon and I picked her up off the streets and very slowly the list is getting shorter. Seven was suffering from a bad eye infection, mange, and malnutrition to name a few. Her eyes are fine now, her mange is gradually getting better, all her infected wounds have healed, she is putting on weight, and has certainly made herself very much at home!

I would like to personally thank Marylou Hecht, Kathy Petrucci, and Scarlett Magda for their input with Seven’s care.

Please don’t forget that you can follow BLES via Twitter for up to the minute updates and you can show your support by joining our Facebook group/cause.

Take care,

Katherine and the elephants xx