When Chaba, a newborn elephant, first stepped into a little plastic tub filled with freshwater, it was unlike anything she’d ever known.
Chaba was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in a small concrete enclosure in an elephant camp. Mother BunMa, was forced to make daily demonstrations for visitors, including riding a bicycle, drawing portraits, and performing circus acts.
If the Save the Elephant Foundation rescuers had not intervened, Chaba’s fate would have been the same.
“When our team heard about Chaba’s and BunMa’s condition, we went to the camp to see what we could do to aid them,” Ry Emmerson, Save Elephant Foundation’s projects director, told The Dodo. “We discovered the mother and infant in a tiny concrete enclosure with little enrichment and the mother chained. It was evident right away that they were both in bad health and need emergency assistance.”
In August, the Save Elephant Foundation’s founder secured the family’s release and rescued them. BunMa was afraid of being separated from her baby and refused to get into the truck, which the rescuers intended to take them to Elephant Nature Park (ENP).
Emmerson said, “We determined it was safer for them to walk to our refuge.” “They arrived at ENP after two hours of walking and were greeted with an elephant cake.”
After devouring her cake, Chaba was given her first bath. Everyone was surprised by the look of pure delight on the then 4-month-old elephant’s face.
“Chaba is a true water baby!” Emmerson said. “She loved splashing around in the water and then running back to Mum for reassurance. Now, she loves to play in the splash pool with her basketball whilst her mum enjoys some tasty fruit treats.”
Chaba and her mother now have the freedom to interact with other elephants, forage for food, and roll about in mud puddles.
But nothing makes Chaba happier than her small pool.
“She enjoys splashing around in the water,” Save Elephant Foundation stated on Facebook. ” She’s becoming more self-assured and learning a lot.”
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