海角大神

On a recent afternoon Katherine Connor was kneeling down in the dust before Wassana, a three-ton Asian elephant that still bears the scars of her former life.

For the British-born animal activist, getting down and dirty is part of her daily routine, and she was on her knees to tend to the older female elephant鈥檚 foot.

Wassana was once a work elephant forced to haul heavy logs deep in the jungle near Thailand鈥檚 northern border with war-torn Myanmar (formerly Burma). One day more than a decade ago she stepped on a land mine, which damaged part of one of her front feet. She still walks with a limp.

Every day Ms. Connor, who runs an elephant sanctuary she set up near the historical northern Thai town of Sukhothai, cleans and dresses the animal鈥檚 foot. She also tends to the ailments and infirmities of the 10 other rescued jumbos, many of them older, in her care.

鈥淪he鈥檚 a beautiful animal,鈥� notes Connor as she applies some salve to Wassana. 鈥淵ou see their scars and injuries, but you still can鈥檛 fathom what they鈥檝e been through.鈥�

Wassana, whose name means 鈥淔ortune鈥� in Thai, endures the treatment with stoic resilience, at one point balling up the tip of her trunk and placing it in her mouth the way some people bite on a forefinger when they鈥檙e in pain.

鈥淭his is hurting her, and she could easily flick me aside, but she doesn鈥檛,鈥� Connor observes. 鈥淚 really do think she knows we鈥檙e trying to help her.鈥�

鈥業 knew I had to help鈥�

Connor spotted Wassana walking by the side of the road four years ago near a logging camp. Her forehead was dripping with blood from the stab wounds that her mahout, or handler, had inflicted on her with a pointy hook that mahouts use for controlling their animals.

鈥淎s she walked by, she looked me straight in the eye,鈥� Connor recalls. 鈥淚 knew I had to help her.鈥�

So she did. She launched a fundraising campaign on social media and bought the elephant from her owner.

Now Wassana lives at Connor鈥檚 Boon Lott鈥檚 Elephant Sanctuary (BLES), a 540-acre animal reserve in an idyllic rural setting with rolling hills, lush forests, and scenic ponds. All the elephant residents here have been rescued by Connor from a life of misery in Thailand鈥檚 logging and tourism trades, which employ elephants as beasts of burden or as tourist attractions.

Lom (Umbrella), a boisterous young female, once had to tramp the streets of the city of Chiang Mai to beg from tourists, who could feed her sugar cane and plantains for the equivalent of a dollar or two. Bwua Ngam (Beautiful Lotus) used to be chained up in a graveyard at night and at a busy roadside by day to beg for handouts from passing motorists. Pang Dow (Lucky Star) was forced to carry tourists on her back in chunky, poorly fitted howdahs (seats), which injured her spine. Despite a deformed ankle, she was also forced to haul heavy loads.

At one time all these elephants did was to spend their days doing their masters鈥� bidding and their nights in chains. Now, thanks to Connor, they can roam freely and explore the sprawling sanctuary, nibbling from its fruit trees and frolicking to their heart鈥檚 content with minimal interference.

鈥淭his place is as close to freedom as it is possible for captive elephants in Thailand,鈥� says Thean Yonyan, a local mahout, one of seven whom Connor employs to look after the elephants.

A century ago the Southeast Asian nation boasted some 100,000 elephants; today only a few thousand remain, with barely a handful left in the wild.

鈥淲e just want to let these abused animals be elephants at last,鈥� explains Connor, a petite woman with an impish smile. 鈥淓ach one is an individual and has special needs.

鈥淏oon Thong there,鈥� she says, indicating a bony female with a torn ear that is blind in one eye, 鈥渓oves to be at the back and is fussy about her food. She was sickly when we brought her here, but she鈥檚 come around.鈥�

Bonding with Baby Babar

The elephants have come far, but so has Connor.

Growing up in a sleepy suburb of London, the closest she got to elephants was during visits to the local zoo. As a child she loved Dumbo, the Disney cartoon elephant, but that was the extent of her familiarity with the animals.

Then in 2002, during a backpacking tour of Asia, Connor ended up volunteering at an elephant hospital in northern Thailand where she met Boon Lott, a prematurely born calf with various ailments.

She bonded instantly with the needy baby elephant. On a whim she launched an international 鈥淪ave Baby Babar鈥� campaign to raise funds for him and his mother, a logging elephant named Pang Tong (Mrs. Gold).

鈥淗e was so weak and skinny yet so full of life,鈥� Connor recalls.

One day, while out for a frolic, Boon Lott fell down a hillside and his hind legs became paralyzed. Connor was distraught but persisted in trying to save the young jumbo.
鈥淗is name means 鈥楽urvivor鈥� in Thai, and he was a survivor,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 felt I owed it to him to help him.鈥�

She launched another fundraising campaign among friends and animal lovers back home, built a hydrotherapy pool for Boon Lott, and set up a modified equine sling for him so he could stand up. She looked after him day and night, even bedding down beside him for sleep.

Connor tried acupuncture and aromatherapy, as well as traditional Thai massages, to help aid his recovery. She quit her job in retail management in London so she could stay with Boon Lott in Thailand.

鈥淲ho knows what it was about this elephant that so captivated me and made me change my life?鈥� she ponders. 鈥淚 still can鈥檛 explain it.鈥�

By the time the calf was 2, he could move about with the help of a specialized wheelchair Connor had built for him. But he eventually fell down again and died soon afterward.

To honor his memory, in 2005 Connor set up an elephant sanctuary in Boon Lott鈥檚 name on a small piece of forested land she bought in Sukhothai. She shrugged off warnings about the hardships and hurdles she would face in running a private animal sanctuary as a foreigner in Thailand. She plowed ahead.

鈥淚 keep my head down. I don鈥檛 preach to local people. I try to lead by example,鈥� she says.

She started off with just a couple of elephants, one of them Boon Lott鈥檚 mother. Her modus operandi is simple: She follows up on tips about abused elephants and then takes to social media to raise funds for their purchase. If her funds allow, she also buys up more of the adjoining land for her sanctuary.

鈥淚t isn鈥檛 just me who has done this,鈥� Connor stresses. 鈥淚t鈥檚 thousands of people worldwide who have helped make this happen [by donating funds].鈥�

Today BLES is home to not just elephants but also to a growing menagerie of other animals Connor has rescued from neglect and abuse, including two humped cows, a dozen dogs, 30 cats, and 25 tortoises. They roam, romp, and crawl unhindered around the premises, making her small office quarters look like a scene from 鈥淒octor Dolittle.鈥�

A few years ago Connor married a local mahout, and she is now mother to four young children, including a newborn. That means she constantly needs to juggle the competing demands of motherhood and animal conservation. She rarely gets to sleep more than four hours a day, she says.

鈥淚 know I can鈥檛 save every elephant in Thailand,鈥� Connor concedes. 鈥淏ut I can help a few.鈥�

鈥� To learn more about Boon Lott鈥檚 Elephant Sanctuary, including how to observe the elephants firsthand by staying at a guesthouse on-site, visit http://www.blesele.org.

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