2 elephants at Night Safari die

Two elephants at Chiang Mai's Night Safari died last month, while three others have fallen ill due to bad digestion resulting from eating the wrong kind of grass, resident veterinarians said Tuesday.

Suphoj Maythaphirat, a senior official, said Night Safari animal keepers were partly at fault for not screening the feed bought from villagers, adding that elephants should not eat too much old grass in a single sitting.

Phang Joi and Phang Grandma died late last month after succumbing to extremely bad digestion, while three other elephants are recovering from the same symptoms. Suphoj said only soft grass will be fed to the ill elephants. They will also be given more water to drink.

Suphoj said insecticide in the grass - bought regularly from three communities in Tambon Mae Hia, Suthep and Nong Khwai - could be a reason for the deaths and that tests were currently underway.

Source: The Nation - 10 October 2007

I wish the h3ll I could express surprise......

Rest in peace .

Didnt they know that they were supposed to smoke the stuff , not eat it !!!!

Very sad indeed, and one more reason not support them with your visit.

Nienke

Will they be serving them for lunch now?

Very sad indeed, and one more reason not support them with your visit.

Nienke

The Night Surfarty has been a lemon since square one, and one of the many "Toxic Projects" that has been doomed to failure. It's a great pity that it's at the expense of the poor animals.

What a disaster is that place.

It's actually surprising the ruling junta haven't pulled the plug, since it's clearly a Thaksin thing that's very clearly failing like a slow motion train wreck.

What a disaster is that place.

It's actually surprising the ruling junta haven't pulled the plug, since it's clearly a Thaksin thing that's very clearly failing like a slow motion train wreck.

I supose you could call the people who sold them the feed 'Rogue traders'

Never been there, never wanted to go there, now most certainly not ever going there.

I don't like animals in cages, period....reminds me of my infancy, captured in a prison (crib).

And yes, I am an animal! As we all are....

Been there a few times on field trips, they basically had to shut everything down, no food court etc due to no people. I vote the Zoo as a MUCH better experience.

Been there a few times on field trips, they basically had to shut everything down, no food court etc due to no people. I vote the Zoo as a MUCH better experience.

Don't support any places where the elephants "do tricks", give rides etc.

http://www.thaifocus.com/elephant/

http://www.helpthaielephants.com/factstruths.html

I supose you could call the people who sold them the feed 'Rogue traders'

Oh dear...groan....Musth you?

Great shame.

Yes the Night Safari is a "White Elephant" which is why they put three massive stone carvings of white elephants at the entrance, troulbe is they did not understand what a white elephant means in the western world.

I have said it before...they should close it down along with the "Floral Show"...another "white elephant"- waste of money.. and build a theme park ...like "Chessington World of Adventure" or "Alton Towers"...to my American freinds this would equate to a mini-Disneyworld (without the parades) about a quarter the size.....they would have the punters flocking in....but they just can't see it

Great shame.

Yes the Night Safari is a "White Elephant" which is why they put three massive stone carvings of white elephants at the entrance, troulbe is they did not understand what a white elephant means in the western world.

I have said it before...they should close it down along with the "Floral Show"...another "white elephant"- waste of money.. and build a theme park ...like "Chessington World of Adventure" or "Alton Towers"...to my American freinds this would equate to a mini-Disneyworld (without the parades) about a quarter the size.....they would have the punters flocking in....but they just can't see it

I agree with this idea.. That or a casino..

i would love to able to stay in a lodge , in a national park , watching elephants and tigers etc in their natural habitat.....African countries have done it , cant they do it here?

Been there a few times on field trips, they basically had to shut everything down, no food court etc due to no people. I vote the Zoo as a MUCH better experience.

Don't support any places where the elephants "do tricks", give rides etc.

http://www.thaifocus.com/elephant/

http://www.helpthaielephants.com/factstruths.html

I don't organize the field trips, I'm just a monkey herder

I supose you could call the people who sold them the feed 'Rogue traders'

Oh dear...groan....Musth you?

Ivory sorry if I offended you.

Don't support any places where the elephants "do tricks", give rides etc.

And as there is no longer enough old school forest work to support the numbers of elephants in Thailand, perhaps you would prefer a massive culling of the population because without income generated from tourism there would be no food or anywhere for these elephants to go. There are already plenty of "unemployed" elephants in the Kingdom whose lives are less than ideal.

Look, there are indeed some bad elephant camps out there, but there are also some very good ones, including the big one up at Mae Sa where they do "tricks" and give rides. It might not be your cup of tea, but others might and do enjoy the experience. There are a few elephant sanctuaries out there where the pachyderms no longer have to give rides to tourists. But these sanctuaries also have limitations as to how many elephants they can adopt. In a perfect world there would be enough sanctuary space for all the Thai elephants, but that is not the case so giving rides and doing "tricks" to generate income to provide food and shelter is here to stay for awhile.

I supose you could call the people who sold them the feed 'Rogue traders'

Oh dear...groan....Musth you?

Ivory sorry if I offended you.

Tusk, tusk, tusk . . .

Don't support any places where the elephants "do tricks", give rides etc.

And as there is no longer enough old school forest work to support the numbers of elephants in Thailand, perhaps you would prefer a massive culling of the population because without income generated from tourism there would be no food or anywhere for these elephants to go. There are already plenty of "unemployed" elephants in the Kingdom whose lives are less than ideal.

Look, there are indeed some bad elephant camps out there, but there are also some very good ones, including the big one up at Mae Sa where they do "tricks" and give rides. It might not be your cup of tea, but others might and do enjoy the experience. There are a few elephant sanctuaries out there where the pachyderms no longer have to give rides to tourists. But these sanctuaries also have limitations as to how many elephants they can adopt. In a perfect world there would be enough sanctuary space for all the Thai elephants, but that is not the case so giving rides and doing "tricks" to generate income to provide food and shelter is here to stay for awhile.

There is nothing wrong with animals doing tricks or being ridden. It is the way they are taught and the trainingmethods that are being used that have made them do willingly tricks and allow people on their backs. Abusive methods are completely not necessary as there are other animal friendly training methods that evenly do a good job, while keeping the animal's trust and respect and respecting the animal's well-being.

When one uses positive reinforcement, respecting the individual animal's learning abilities and mood at that specific moment that one trains it, then most of the time the animal will welcome the training sessions as it means a enjoyable variation in its boring life. I come accross this on a daily basis at my kennel when I'm training the dogs.

I believe it are the most horrific and abuse training methods and the way baby elephants are taken away from the mother and the herd, that Waiwai is referring to, and I fully agree with him that these practises should not be supported whatsoever.

There is a choice between places where elephants are abused (unfortunately in the majority) and those where elephants' are well kept and treated, so why not supporting the latter and avoiding the first?

Nienke

Don't support any places where the elephants "do tricks", give rides etc.

And as there is no longer enough old school forest work to support the numbers of elephants in Thailand, perhaps you would prefer a massive culling of the population because without income generated from tourism there would be no food or anywhere for these elephants to go. There are already plenty of "unemployed" elephants in the Kingdom whose lives are less than ideal.

Look, there are indeed some bad elephant camps out there, but there are also some very good ones, including the big one up at Mae Sa where they do "tricks" and give rides. It might not be your cup of tea, but others might and do enjoy the experience. There are a few elephant sanctuaries out there where the pachyderms no longer have to give rides to tourists. But these sanctuaries also have limitations as to how many elephants they can adopt. In a perfect world there would be enough sanctuary space for all the Thai elephants, but that is not the case so giving rides and doing "tricks" to generate income to provide food and shelter is here to stay for awhile.

There is nothing wrong with animals doing tricks or being ridden. It is the way they are taught and the trainingmethods that are being used that have made them do willingly tricks and allow people on their backs. Abusive methods are completely not necessary as there are other animal friendly training methods that evenly do a good job, while keeping the animal's trust and respect and respecting the animal's well-being.

When one uses positive reinforcement, respecting the individual animal's learning abilities and mood at that specific moment that one trains it, then most of the time the animal will welcome the training sessions as it means a enjoyable variation in its boring life. I come accross this on a daily basis at my kennel when I'm training the dogs.

I believe it are the most horrific and abuse training methods and the way baby elephants are taken away from the mother and the herd, that Waiwai is referring to, and I fully agree with him that these practises should not be supported whatsoever.

There is a choice between places where elephants are abused (unfortunately in the majority) and those where elephants' are well kept and treated, so why not supporting the latter and avoiding the first?

Nienke

Ok, but how does a tourist know which is good and bad? I dont know either.

Great shame.

Yes the Night Safari is a "White Elephant" which is why they put three massive stone carvings of white elephants at the entrance, troulbe is they did not understand what a white elephant means in the western world.

I have said it before...they should close it down along with the "Floral Show"...another "white elephant"- waste of money.. and build a theme park ...like "Chessington World of Adventure" or "Alton Towers"...to my American freinds this would equate to a mini-Disneyworld (without the parades) about a quarter the size.....they would have the punters flocking in....but they just can't see it

I agree with this idea.. That or a casino..

You know.... this makes me think a bit....

1.) We know that tourism in Chiang Mai has been the pits for the past two years. Many smaller hotels and restaurants have closed or changed hands, including the Sheraton, so why the massive constructions all over?

2.) We've all noticed the huge, very expensive hotels still going up all over the place around Chiang Mai. The holding groups behind these hotels are NOT stupid people. They certainly aren't putting up $1000 a night rooms for the backpack tourists. So why are they still building?

3.) We know that many political associates of the past PM bought up land in the outskirts of town. We thought it would be for a new airport at the time because THAT was what was in the news at the time. But now I wonder...

3.) The Flower Festival Folly is over, the Night Safari Fiasco never even got off the ground, so why are these 'supposedly wise financial organizations still building more and more huge hotels? What could provide the kind of money and tourism that would support expensive hotels? Sort of like Las Vegas?

4.) Perhaps the poster above may just have hit the nail on the head.... Casinos. Right now, not legal in the Kingdom. But all that can change with a simple vote. What other industry (other than sex) brings in more money quickly, huge sums of money, and even allows for governmental percentages if not regulation? Who can afford to stay in these new big fancy hotels if not the rich gamblers. That's what built Las Vegas from a dusty little desert town. Chiang Mai is losing its appeal as a backpack tourist destination. Something/someone with big money needs to take its place. I'll bet it WILL be casinos!

Chiang Mai is losing its appeal as a backpack tourist destination. Something/someone with big money needs to take its place. I'll bet it WILL be casinos!

FolkGuitar, you are one of Chiang Mai's most intelligent, most well read, most handsome and charming posters, but I bet that you are wrong this time. Thais are just too hypocritical to legalize gambling!

Developing the race track might be a good idea though....if you had one of the biggest race meets in Asia here , youd get the wealthy tourists in a flash

There is a choice between places where elephants are abused (unfortunately in the majority) and those where elephants' are well kept and treated, so why not supporting the latter and avoiding the first?

Nienke

I would disagree that the majority of the elephant camps "abuse" the elephants. As I noted in my first post, one can support the type of elephant camp that one feels most comfortable with. But the sad fact is that there is no alternative for the majority of the elephants other than to be in one camp or another. There is simply not enough room in the few "sanctuaries" to hold all the elephants.

To keep animals in a Zoo is wrong in the first place .

How we would feel if something kept us , just to watch us ......

Just a comparison .

To keep animals in a Zoo is wrong in the first place .

How we would feel if something kept us , just to watch us ......

Just a comparison .

Good zoos' primary objective is not simply to keep animals, in order that the public can watch them. The best zoos are deeply involved in research and conservation. Many species of animals would not exist today if it were not for organisations such as the Jersey zoo, the Royal Zoological Society at London Zoo, San Diego zoo and Loro Parque in the Canaries, to name but a few. Most of their work is carried out behind the scenes, where the public have no access.

Good zoos' primary objective is not simply to keep animals, in order that the public can watch them. The best zoos are deeply involved in research and conservation. Many species of animals would not exist today if it were not for organisations such as the Jersey zoo, the Royal Zoological Society at London Zoo, San Diego zoo and Loro Parque in the Canaries, to name but a few. Most of their work is carried out behind the scenes, where the public have no access.

Exactly right , they do a lot of fantastic unseen work behind the scenes. What is put on show for the public is only a small portion of it, but necessary to raise cash and to educate also.

I spent 2 summers working with a couple of my cousins at a large zoo, and although I didn't go into that profession, it was some of the most productive and interesting hours of my life. So much so, that I am trying to persuade my kids to spend a summer or two there.

To keep animals in a Zoo is wrong in the first place .

How we would feel if something kept us , just to watch us ......

You mean like GOD?