Elephant Conservation Center

Housing about 86 elephants, the Elephant Conservation Center encompasses a bathing area, a special camp for the retired Royal Elephants, a training area and plenty of hilly, plush, green land for the elephants to roam, if they are allowed. Mostly trained for logging, these elephants can pull, lift, push and even walk on logs. Some are trained to paint or even play the xylophone. Absolutely amazing.
Now that logging is illegal in Thailand and they are no longer used to fight in war, not very many people want much to do with elephants. Though sometimes they are still used for the illegal logging, elephants are also used as tourist attractions in the cities. Pay a small fee to have an elephant ride around the city to enjoy the views without seeing the behind closed doors treatment...a little stab here, a little poke there, not enough food or water.
How bout a jab with a spike? Luckily, education is working and more people are sending elephants to the Conservation Center. While we don't see what happens when tourists aren't around, it is much better treatment than if the elephants were left to their owners.

Traditionally, each elephant born for work or any sort of training will have one Mahout, a trainer, for the duration of his/her life. Elephants can outlive humans so usually being a Mahout is a family business. In the illegal practices of logging or tourism in the city, Mahouts change all the time throwing off the elephants.
The bond between the animal and the Mahout is one of complete trust. Watching one of the Mahouts try and get his elephant in the water for a bath was like watching a mom and her three year old fight over a bath. The elephant eventually got in the water, but the care the Mahout took in doing so is noteworthy.

If one of the elephants happens to become ill, the first ever elephant hospital is just nearby. The hospital was started in 1993 after a series of reports of elephants having their feet or legs blown off, from the landmines scattered at the Thailand-Burma border. Before this hospital, the elephants would have been left in the wild to die.
Now, owners can bring their elephants to the hospital for rehabilitation. Once the animal is better, the owner has the choice to take the elephant back or leave it at the hospital. If the owner decides not to take the animal back, it will stay at the Conservation Center or the hospital.

Mohtala was the first elephant patient at the Conservation Center. She lost her foot and part of her leg to a landmine. She would have been left in the wild. Instead, she was brought to the hospital where 30 veterinarians operated on her. They gave her enough anesthesia for to knock out 70 humans.
Her surgery was successful and because of her technology is being improved to create prosthetic limbs for elephants. Now Mohtala is in her 40s and still going strong. In addition to Mohtala, there was a baby elephant, who was a little over a year old. She stepped on a landmine at 7 months.
Her mother and she have been brought to the hospital, not only for rehabilitation but also for proper weaning. Elephants are not just brought there for surgery. Depression, pregnancy (there was a 3 week old baby there too), Anemia and other ailments are also prevalent.

Given that animal rights are vastly different around the world, it is comforting to know that there are people working hard to cause social change and attitudes one elephant at a time.