One
of the more popular beautiful things you can see in Khao Sok National
Park is a wild elephant. Elephants, though thought to be an image
of Thailand are often severly mistreated. It's heartbreaking to
realize how many elephant suffer just so tourists can sit on their
backs. We are vehemently opposed to elephant trekking camps as
they are not doing anything to help the elephants in most cases.
It's a booming business and if most tourists actually realized
what these wonderful beasts went through, they'd think again about
riding on their backs. Please, if you want to help the elephants
do some research first. There are many reputable elephant conservation
programs and outfits that allow you to bathe,feed and take care
of the elephants. This is much more rewarding that merely riding
on their backs.
It
is not unusual to see wild elephants in Khao Sok National Park
in the reservoir area. On some of our more rugged trekking trails
we see evidence of them and it's pretty impressive seeing what
they're capable of climbing up and down.
The
elephant images below were taken in August of 2009. These elephants
played in the water and seemed completely oblivious to us watching.
In both 2008 and 2009, elephant sightings were common. They tend
to stay in one region as long as there is food. Once the food
supply is depleted, they move on and come back once the food has
regrown. We saw elephants on almost every tour over the past two
years!
Wild elephant
photo by Mr. Rob Stretch from PaddleAsia Khao Sok trip March
2011
Certified
