Hello BEES Friends,

It has been very busy here at BEES since I wrote my first blog. So much has been going on it’s hard to keep track of time.

Noisy the Black-Headed Woodpecker:

On the 10th of May we had a local bring us a very distressed wild bird fledgling that had fallen from a tree and was calling in his farm land. We took the bird in immediately and took care of it until the feathers had fully come through and it was able to fly. A very special experience for us here. We named the bird Noisy and she was a Black – Headed Female Woodpecker.  The day of her release the 24th May was a very emotional day. She had become our morning wake up call and brought so much joy into our lives even if it was a short time it was a privilege. Noisy we will always remember you and we hope you fly free and strong and live a happy life.

 

 

Lucky and May (Rescued and in their new home + a trip to the vets):

During the time of Noisy’s rehabilitation we rescued 2 kittens Lucky and May on the 18th of May. Lucky was so little he was approx one week old when we found him. His mother had been dumped at the temple and she had given birth and disappeared leaving the litter behind. In the days to follow Lucky’s siblings died from dog attacks or had been hit by cars. Lucky needed milk he needed his mum, sadly we couldn’t give him his mum but we did the best we could to replace her and provide him with the food, warmth and shelter he needed.

We took Lucky and May to the vets on the 27th May (for check ups), along with 2 of our Male dogs and 1 male cat to be De-sexed. May was very skinny and had a bad limp, the vet gave her a few injections of antibiotics and vitamins and she is doing much better. We took Lucky with us as the vet had asked if he we could bring him in to have a check over, he said we were doing all the right things to help Lucky grow strong. That evening we returned home and Lucky got a serious attack of travel sickness. He threw up many times and he was so weak his little body collapsed. I thought we were going to loose little Lucky. We ran to get a hot water bottle and wrapped him up to keep him warm. His body was still apart from his stomach rising and falling to his breathing. He looked like he was nearly gone he wasn’t responding. At 9.45 am a little miracle happened, his little nose started twitching and May jumped up and started meowing loudly and licking him all over his head. He came back to us! We gave him fluids, continued to check his temperature and by the morning he was much better and running around playing with his good friend May. Today Lucky is doing well, he still is weak, but we hope and pray he will continue to grow stronger and healthier everyday.

Mae Kam celebrates one year at BEES: (BEES celebrates one year of elephants too! Yay!)

In early May 2012 we met Mae Kam a very sad lonely elephant. She was chained in a small patch of forest above her owners farm for nearly two years, she had no elephant friends and

spent her days chained, prior to this she had spent near 50 years working in logging, trekking and tourism industry. She had a long hard life, she has seen and endured many things. She would have logged some of the worlds largest teaks used for furniture today. We told the owner about BEES and how we want to retire elephants and give them a chance at freedom and he agreed to let us rent Mae Kam almost immediately and she was moved to BEES a couple of weeks later .

We rent Mae Kam in the hope to keep her out of work and in this life of sanctuary. Mae Kam arrived at BEES on the eve of the 31st June after a long approx 65km walk from Mae Hong Song to BEES. It was a 2 day walk in rain and shine. Mae Kam had her first free day at BEES on the 1st of June.

In celebration of Mae Kam’s one year at BEES we had an elephant feast set-up for Mae Kam and Mae Jumpee to enjoy. They enjoyed watermelon, pineapple, pumpkin and banana’s nicely placed out on some juicy banana leaves.

Happy one year at BEES Mae Kam!! We hope we have many more wonderful years with you to come. You are such a lovely elephant and have changed so much since you arrived at BEES. We love you Mae Kam!

Trip to Surin Province – Northern East Thailand: A land of many elephants.

Surin is the birth place of elephant history. Over 100 years ago baby elephants (4-10 years old) were captured in the wild to train and sell to use for work in logging or farming. In nowadays Surin has the largest amount of elephants then any other province of Thailand.

We saw many elephants on our travels through Surin and went to the Elephant Graveyard which is the only one in Thailand. A very sacred place for the families that choose to bury their elephants there. The families go to visit elephants for many years to come after their elephant has passed to pay their respects.

We even saw the grave stone for an 80 year old female which is very amazing. She must have seen a lot in her long life.

Mollie the emergency rescue:

On the evening of the 5th June at 6.30pm we were told their had been an injured dog sighted down the river on a nearby farm land, it couldn’t walk and was dragging its back legs behind it. We got the torches together and packed a few supplies and a blanket and carry basket.

The river had already flooded once during the day due to the pouring rain, it was very dangerous to walk across the river, lots of unsteady rocks and sink holes. We searched where the puppy had been last sighted for over 2.5hours with no sign. We then walked down the river further searching, slipping and sliding everywhere, every second thinking please let us find her… Their were thousands of flying termites completely covering our torches making it very difficult to see. At about 9pm we decided to walk back towards home and see if we had missed the her along the way. We heard screams of fear in the far distance from inside a natural waterway leading into the forest, our dogs had found her and she was afraid. We were so lucky she yelped and screamed when she did otherwise we would have never found her. We wrapped the frightened, shivering puppy up in a blanket, placed her in a carry basket and got her home to safety.

She can’t walk very well, she can’t use her hind legs but she does manage to balance on them when she first stands up. Then when she gets going they drag behind her. We hope one day she may be able to walk again. It appears that she has been this way for a long time as she doesn’t scream in pain when we feel her. She is approx 4 months old. We believe she was deliberately dumped because she has this disability.

Your home now Mollie, safe and will be loved and well cared.

The abuse and neglect of animals in these parts can be horrifying. The things we see and hear are heartbreaking. This can be a very depressing job sometimes, but we need to continue the fight and educate the locals and give these animals a better chance at life!!

Please consider making a donation. We are not yet set-up as a Foundation/Charity as it has been a very difficult process but we are working towards this. We heavily rely on donations, sponsors and paying guests (volunteers) in order to keep the project running, pay for the care of the animals, to continue to rescue and provide a safe home and medical care when needed.

If you would like to help us help the animals please donate or become a volunteer today!

Thank you for your continued support! We all need to work together to make a change!

Kind Regards,

Emily xxx

 

All photos © BEES Elephant Sanctuary