I got this response today from questions I asked of this elephant care center …. FYI: Today Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center 1:49am Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center Hi Alice, thanks for getting in touch. I apologise for the delay responding! We have 4 elephants at the rescue centre. Do you want information about them for a particular project, or just personal curiosity? I have included general information below, but can give you more detail when I am back in the office following the Water Festival holidays! All the animals that call Phnom Tamao home have been rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and are unsuitable for release due to physical or psychological injury, or there is no safe place for them anymore. 2 of our elephants, Jamran and Sakor were rescued from human-elephant conflict. A new sugar cane plantation in Sakors home forest proved too tempting, and local villagers had begun feeding Jamran then she was unable to tell the difference between the food they provided and their crops! A video of Sakors rescue is available on our youtube channel - youtube/watch?v=4RoW5ZykET8&list=UUSsHKBImbqsSsLgTeR51Syw Lucky and Chhouk are our most famous elephants and they are like a brother and sister. Chhouk is our youngest elephant and is the only elephant in Cambodia to have a prosthetic! He lost part of his foot to a hunters snare and was found alone in the forest in a very bad shape. After many years with us he has been nursed back to health and is able to walk again thanks to a prosthetic foot made by the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics. Details of his story are available on our webpage - wildlifealliance.org/page/view/321/wildlife/care-for-rescued-wildlife/chhouk and there are several vidoes on our youtube channel showing how we are able to care for his injury using positive reinforcement training - youtube/watch?v=RQ4OJwFoOJQ&list=UUSsHKBImbqsSsLgTeR51Syw, youtube/watch?v=FVljK6fosDI&list=UUSsHKBImbqsSsLgTeR51Syw and a great segment in an old fundraising video - youtube/watch?v=_rpKXZwOuiU&list=UUSsHKBImbqsSsLgTeR51Syw Lucky came to us when she was just 6 months old, orphaned likely due to poaching. To ensure her survival she was hand raised by our head keeper Try Sitheng for the first 2 years of her life, and they have a unique bond. Having been hand raised she is very comfortable around people and is our ambassador animal. You may see photos of her painting, something we have taught her to do with abuse free positive reinforcement training to prove it is possible, as there are many places that do this same activity but have trained their elephants through abusive methods. There are many photos of her on our facebok page and website!!! Please let me know if you would like more information or are planning to visit. We offer an exclusive behind the scenes tours which gives you access to our elephant area where you can meet all the elephants and see our training with Chhouk and Lucky. Detauls are available at phnomtamaotours or feel free to get in touch here. All the best, Emma
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:54:08 +0000