I'm the only visitor today, and they have are 98 elephants to feed... this is their "snack" ๐ฐ
This female fell off a cliff on a mountain and broke a leg. One year later, the injuries are still visible, but she has regained weight and can walk again. She needs daily veterinarian care to clean and disinfect the injuries.
In this difficult time for an elephant shelter, they're makkng these "elephant cakes" that people can buy online as a surprise gift for a particular elephant or for a family.
Elephants without health conditions are roaming freely in the huge park. This young guy approached us, and my guide says he's a "troublemaker"...
Troublemaker explores my guide's face. He seems most curious about that short protuberance over the mouth, where the trunk should be! ๐
Lunch time! ๐ป
I'm surprised by how well behaved they were: no fighting, no begging... they just waited patiently in front of their trays.
The rescued dogs are also incredibly well behaved, better than most dogs with a full-time owner.
What's their secret? Do they mix tranquilizers with their food? ๐ค
Is this what would happen if wild and domestic animals were raised together in a place where they feel safe and don't need to compete for food? ๐ค
After dinner, three of the free-roaming dogs followed me to my room and kept moaning, sobbing, and scratching the door until I let them in!
Bah, as long as it doesn't become a habit... 
The black & white dog snores loudly.
The black one sobs in his sleep.
Caffellatte drank water from the WC.
๐
In the mor kng, we visited the disabled dogs again. They have wheelchairs designed in Canada.
The park serves delicious #vegan food for volunteers, guides and visitors ๐
I captured a conversation between elephants.
Besides their signature trumpet sound, elephants can also emit a low-pitched growl and, unexpectedly, squeak like dolphins or seals ๐คจ
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wSw3TNmYkwPy6WND7
Baby elephants are such troublemakers! ๐ค
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7JUAESWeVT4WNwRA7
@codewiz An elephant as a pet would be quite costly in Japan. ๐คญ Better you don't take one of them with you to your apartment in Tokyo. ๐คฃ
@codewiz
"Raising Elephants Is So Utterly Boring" seems a bit less valid after seeing this.
@metnix Who would say that? They're smart, playful and sometimes highly dangerous... there's no chance to get bored! ๐
@metnix Ohhhh... unless you're rising *skinny* elephants and your Linux system suddenly locks up! ๐
https://www.hashbangcode.com/article/raising-skinny-elephants-utterly-boring
@codewiz whaat! I've never heard that they have to be skinny?! Apparently, they should both work (although, it never worked on my lenovo laptop).
...But that could be because they hid the sysreq key under a layer of modifiers...
@codewiz give him a big hug, please
@hamjb Her. She's a lady!
Actually, the mahout said she's a princess because she eats her cake in a specific order of preference, avoiding fruits with imperfections ๐
@codewiz hmm. If it is princess, she likes cake maybe more than hug?
@codewiz Too much of an injury!
@tagomago This one must have stepped over a cow shredder! ๐ฎ
@codewiz No. Domestic Animals have only learned to feel safe with humans over thousands of years.
@thecultleader666 One of the free roaming dogs growled at another one for getting too close to... me!
The guide explained that they used to follow groups of tourists, but now there are too few and they fight for staying with them!
@codewiz That may be true about wild dogs, and maybe even elephants, but you can't just seperate any wild animal from its native habitat and expect it to play nice with you when you bring it back home
poor little guys.
most likely got injured by humans, i guess.
I'm impressed how good the animals are treated in the shelter although food and money supply surely is scarce due to the pandemic.
@TFG Yes, they're asking for international donations to keep the elephant shelter afloat, and they also adopted 20-25 new elephants from tourist attractions that couldn't afford to feed them any more ๐ข
20-25 elephants... that means a lot of food to provide.
I've always criticized abusing animals for human entertainment. But it's good the elephants were sent to the shelter instead of keeping them starving.
@TFG They also explained that reintroducing them to the jungle is difficult for two reasons:
First, there are few areas that are completely undeveloped and far from farms and roads.
Second, elephants learn how to live from their family members, but if their entire experience is that humans bring food, they will try to find humans to beg them for food.
yes, this makes it impossible to get them back to the wild.
off topic: .. I was about to ask you how difficult it is as a vegan in Thailand... but then I saw these giant bowls with delicious looking food they prepared for visitors/guides/volunteers ... if it wasn't way to warm climate for me .. .I would consider going there ๐
@codewiz You got three new followers ๐
@almn76 Hope not, I can't take them back with me to Tokyo! ๐
@codewiz I see you in your apartment in Tokyo with an elephant, a goat and three happy dogs. You'll never walk alone. ๐
@codewiz so sweet
@codewiz I dreamed of elephants last night because of your posts. One of them was named "Victory." I thought that was a nice name for a recovering animal ๐
@codewiz A friendly mastodon meets a friendly buffalo โค๏ธ
@almn76 It was one-sided love... I actually went to wash my hand afterwards! ๐
@codewiz The one with five should lend one.
@codewiz Maybe they have a sense that they will only find a home if they behave well.
@codewiz Are you using a camera software cat-filter ๐ธ for elephants? ๐คญ๐คฃ #software #catfilter
@codewiz Exactly ๐
@codewiz Do you have a link?
@lordbowlich This is the Elephant Nature Park:
https://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
But the cake giving seems to be a different organization:
https://thegentlegiants.org/ele-celebration-cakes
In Japan, a fruit cake of this size would cost >$1000 ๐คญ