Ploy and Pwong Thong are two female elephants, just rescued this week from their past 20 years of poor health and being forced to give rides to tourists all day. The elephants were released from an island off the coast of Thailand/Cambodia and transported to Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary (BLES) located in northern Thailand. The two were transported by ferry.
Ploy had been starving and her closely bonded friend, Pwong Thong was at risk of being sold to another company for more tourism rides detrimental to the health of the elephants.
Ploy was dying from starvation. Pwong was her friend in chains that sat next to her for 20 years and forced to give rides to tourists all day…
The rescue plans had been spearheaded by Planting Peace, whose efforts include “global nonprofit organization founded for the purpose of spreading peace in a hurting world. Their projects focus on a range of humanitarian and environmental initiatives, including a multi-national deworming campaign; a network of orphanages and safe havens in developing countries; LGBTQ rights advocacy; Equality House and Transgender House; and rainforest conservation efforts in the Amazon.”
Before departing on their freedom journey, once the funds were raised, then came the paperwork; the elephants had been on an island, requiring travel permits needed to legally travel from the island by ferry. Although there has officially been a ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia, there are still reports coming out in local news about violence and unrest. The rescuers and the two elephants departed the mainland Thailand from the provinces of Trat, which runs along the Thai/Cambodian border; obviously a cause for concern. All of the bombing so far, has taken place in the north, and they were travelling south.
As to Ploy’s physical condition because she was weak and underweight, there was concern for her ability to travel. The day before she started on her journey, she was given additional vitamin supplements and high quality food to ease her stress.
Thank you @planting_peace for partnering to save Pwong Thong and Ploy – we couldn’t have done it without you
Yesterday, they arrived:
Their rescue highlights the importance of ethical tourism and the need to protect elephants from neglect and abuse.
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