Himal Gaj is a six-year-old captive born elephant. His father is the dominant wild bull in the area. His mother is a wild born, captive resident of the elephant breeding center at Khosor, Chitwan, … [Read more...]
December 18, 2012 – E-Newsletter
I am back in Nepal. So much has happened during my first month here! I accepted a kind offer from the National Trust for Nature Conservation’s Biodiversity Conservation Center to live on-grounds. … [Read more...]
A precious soul lost
It's been a pretty intense week. A two-year-old female calf at the breeding center was diagnosed with herpes. Even though she received treatment, she passed away two days later. Herpes is … [Read more...]
Drag Chains and Training
Elephant’s World posted two videos on YouTube last week of me training a young elephant named Jon (you can view them here and here). I was surprised to see the videos and happy to know they … [Read more...]
Jon
Last year I had the honor of working with a young, energetic elephant named Jon. He was a recent rescue, living at Elephant’s World, a Thai-run facility outside of Bangkok. To my surprise, two … [Read more...]
Wildlife SOS – INDIA
During this trip to India I basically sequestered myself in Bannerghatta, singularly focused on the care center project. As my pending departure loomed I realized that I had failed to visit other … [Read more...]
a need for change, right here at home
I recently returned from a lengthy trip to Asia, where I taught traditional mahouts (trainers) a gentler, more humane way of training and working with captive elephants. Viewing the undercover … [Read more...]
Ngo-Hok, aka Jon, at Elephant’s World
Elephant’s World was one of the locations where I was fortunate to introduce positive reinforcement target training. I will return there to continue training, and to consult on facility development … [Read more...]
checking in at ENP
My return flight to Los Angeles leaves from Bangkok, which was the perfect excuse to go back to Elephant Nature Park one more time to see the progress made by Chang Yim and Karl. Yim never ceases … [Read more...]
Seeds of Change
April 13 My work in Sauraha has come to an end, at least for the time being. Seeds of change have been planted. From the looks of it, some seeds are already growing, quietly shifting the soil … [Read more...]
a fiery red head
I’ve got a new heartthrob. He is smart, dark and seriously handsome, with a full head of fiery red hair! Admittedly on the young side, Bhadra still lives with his mom and spends the entire day … [Read more...]
The TARGET of target training
A target is a tool -- a flexible pole with a spongy end -- used to shape behaviors. Its purpose is to create a focal point, a benign object for the elephant to focus on. To start, we touch Chang … [Read more...]
