BEES Friends,

Thank you all so much for your patience, it’s been a very busy time here…. When are we ever NOT busy BEES?? ….. The rain is bringing back all the gorgeous lush greenery for the elephants to enjoy, as well as lots of glorious mud! The perfect time of year to be with elephants enjoying them at their very best! With the rain also brings a lot of power failures, floods and landslides making it even more difficult to get onto the already slow internet connection here in rural Thailand!

 

Mae Kam enjoys a splash down at the Maechaem river

 

 

 

Sad News and an update on the rescues at BEES:

It is always with great sadness that we bring the news of the passing of one of our dear animals. It’s always so hard to find the words to speak when we lose an animal that is so close to our hearts. It’s also always hard to accept that they are really gone. With a very heavy heart we bring the news of our darling disabled dog Kao’s passing. Kao took a bad turn in the early hours of the evening on Saturday night, 5th July and passed away suddenly. We are all in shock and completely devastated, he was doing so well and was learning to trust again after he had been badly beaten and horribly abused in the village he lived in previously, leaving him with spinal trauma and no feeling from the waist down. He was so strong and determined, he loved his mobility wheels and getting rubs around his ears and head because he couldn’t scratch himself. We all loved him so much and will miss him dearly. We held a little burial and memorial for Kao to pay our respects to our amazing little boy. Love you always and forever Kao. R.I.P and forever run the hills of green in the meadows of puppy dog heaven, send all our love to all our beloved doggie friends who we miss dearly also. Thank you for being such a special part of our lives.

 

R.I.P Our darling sweet boy Kao. This is were we buried our sweet boy. We’ll miss him dearly!

 

 

 

R.I.P Kao, love always and forever!

 

 

 

 

Tiny ginger kitten ‘Ginnie’ rescued back in June is doing alright she was recently suffering from diarrhea, which now cleared up and was most likely caused due to having to have a supplemental diet, at this age she should still be on her mother’s milk, her badly infected paw she was suffering from when she arrived, was treated with antibiotics and cleaned daily and has healed and is no longer causing any discomfort.

Our gorgeous disabled girl Mollie is doing extremely well! She is now at a point where she is taking steps and holding herself up a lot longer! Mollie is walking! Although when very tired she still drags and sometimes gets her legs twisted, our darling Mollie is taking steps! How AWESOME! Mollies strength and determination to pull through has just been so heartwarming, when we found Mollie a little over a year ago, she had been dumped in the river during a big rain, its believed her previous owner thought the river would flood and she would have drowned. Thank fully Burm’s uncle was working on his farm when he heard heart wrenching screams and yelps, he tried to approach her, but cold and frightened she dragged her damaged little body away from him. He couldn’t leave her like that so he came to alert us of the poor little pups fate if we didn’t act quickly. We assembled our little team and searched into the night, at around 9pm we found her cold, wet and frightened covered in ants, we thought she wouldn’t make it! After getting her to the vets as soon as we could, a long 3 hours drive away, X-rays confirmed she had a broken rib, severe swelling and inflammation around her spine, it was suspected spinal cord trauma and the vets said it was likely she would never walk again. We have NEVER given up hope and although it took several months before we saw improvements Mollie has be going from strength to strength and we are so proud of her. Go Mollie!

 

 

 

Rescued dogs of BEES run and play on a walk in the jungle

 

All the other rescues are doing very well. Diana’s litter of kittens and Tigger’s little of kittens are doing very well growing big and strong. We have introduced the two litters together and they are getting along very well with each other and love to run and play. It won’t be long before they are old enough for sterilization and we will bring them in to Chiang Mai to have it done or organize for the vets to come out to BEES again.

 

Cheeky kitten Leo exploring the gardens at BEES

 

 

 

 

The elephants of Thailand need our help now! We MUST come together to help create a positive and sustainable future for the elephants.

 

Update on privately owned elephants Kham Mee and Baby Boon who need medical care, rest and recuperation:

In the last BLOG we wrote about privately owned elephants, Kham Mee and Baby Boon, a mother elephant and her baby that need medical care, rest and recuperation and we would like to move them to BEES temporarily. We can’t travel 65+km daily to provide the care they need at this time. The owner has contacted BEES to ask if we can help, he is very concerned that Baby Boon’s terribly inflamed eye will go blind if he doesn’t get proper care and daily treatments; he also has concerns for Baby Boon’s mother who is very tired and has uncomfortable and very damaged feet. Health concerns are a big welfare issue for these elephants and returning them to work greatly affect their chances of a good recovery.

Dr. Sak from TECC kindly made the big trip out to assess the health and well being of Kham Mee and Baby Boon. It’s been agreed the best thing for them both is to have some time in a quiet place to rest and recuperate where the eye can be treated and monitored and Kham Mee can rest and have some time of freedom so that more serious health issues don’t arise in the near future. Its certain more severe health issues will arise if she is kept in the stressful situation they are in, they both need a good rest. The vets have given anti-biotic drops for baby Boon’s eye and we are currently building an enclosure for Kham Mee and Baby Boon at BEES so they can receive the care and treatment they need here onsite.

 

 

The treatment area and enclosure is taking shape

 

 

 

 

It’s important for everyone to understand that at this stage if all goes to plan and they are come to BEES it will be on REST and this is NOT permanent. Ideally we hope that Kham Mee and Baby Boon never have to leave but the reality is we do not own or have control over these elephants. We hope that we can secure a long term agreement in the future but the most critical thing to achieve now is getting these elephants the help they need. We feel we can’t walk away from this situation, and we can’t travel the 65+ KM per day to provide treatments for baby Boon in his village until the eye has properly healed, it’s just not possible. The best thing to do is to move them on rest and recuperation so that if and when the time comes that they have to leave that they are strong enough to go and won’t have even more severe health issues in the near future.

After having endless discussion with the owner we have now got a time and date for the elephants to move to BEES and have agreed upon a rental period of one year with the hopes of being able to secure a longer term agreement in the future. All going to plan Kham Mee and Baby Boon will move to BEES during the week of the 14th July to receive the rest and care they need.

 

 

Baby Boon with his sore left eye beside his mother Kham Mee. Note: This picture is not taken at BEES Elephant Sanctuary

 

 

 

Renting over buying elephants:

We have said it many times before and feel the need to put it out in the world again. We found that when other organizations buy elephants it can mean that the funds handed to the owner are then used to purchase another elephant, usually a calf that then gets ripped from its mother at a young age, broken in and forced into work. We are very careful not to contribute to further elephant trade, exploitation and abuse. It doesn’t mean that BEES will never buy an elephant, but we have seen and learnt from the consequences and problems that arise when it comes to making purchases of elephants in Thailand without having proper knowledge, care or experience. At BEES all we want to do is ensure positive change for the future and not fund further exploitation and abuse. By renting elephants it means we are providing an alternative for the elephant and their owner. The elephant can get the rest and care they need and a chance to enjoy freedom and the owner can still make an income to provide for his family. WIN-WIN

Chains: Why do elephants need to be chained?

It’s simple for generations there has been no other choice and their carers have known no other way! In trekking camps, Sanctuaries, Parks, Reserves, Conservation Centers nearly all elephants are chained to keep them safe and out of trouble. A mahout cannot safely leave an elephants side without securing his elephant. It wasn’t until recently that the movement of going completely chain-free for the elephants came about. If elephants aren’t going to be chained they need fencing or corrals built to keep them in and safe, otherwise they will raid people’s crops, damage houses and put themselves in danger of being injured or killed because they don’t understand destroying a farm land, can result in owners of damaged crops becoming very angry and causing harm to the elephants. At BEES we 100% support the movement to go chain-free, but fencing and corrals are highly expensive and due to lack of funding and support we are not yet able to make our dream of removing chains 24/7 for our elephants a reality. The elephants still need to be safely secured in the evenings to ensure their safety and the safety of surrounding villagers. During the day they roam freely until the late hours of the afternoon, roaming around in the jungle and by night they are secured so they are safe.

Please join us and help us raise awareness of our project and what we are trying to achieve so we can make all our dreams for the captive elephants a reality. By working together as a global community standing united for the elephants, we can do this!

If you would like to make a donation or sponsorship to support our work, you can donate via bank transfer to Thai or Australian Bank

 

THAI BANK DETAILS:

KASIKORN BANK
ACCT NAME: BEES ELEPHANTS SANCTUARY (BURM AND EMILY)
ACCT #: 419 2 35661 5
SWIFT CODE: KASITHBK
LOCATION: 45 Moo 4 Charoenniran , Amphur Maechaem, Tambon Chang Keung, Chiang Mai, Thailand 50270

AUSTRALIAN BANK DETAILS:

NAB
ACCT NAME: BAFA
BSB: 082-146
ACCT#: 848647725.
SWIFT code: AAU3303M
LOCATION: 690 Pittwater Rd, Brookvale 2100 NSW Australia.

 

Thank you all so much for your kind support! Together we CAN and will BE the change, to work towards a brighter future for as many elephants and animals as possible! Our work here will never be done and this is just the beginning!

Kind Regards,

The BEES Team x

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