We've got the glucose, milk, and salt ready.

Rock salt? Checked! Glucolin Glucosa in natural flavour? Checked! Anlene Gold 51+? Checked! Dumex Dugro 0-12 months?

When Anwar and I was browsing at the baby milk shelves, we couldn’t find the specific milk for donation. Of course, there was Dumex Dugro, but it was for 3-6 year-olds. There was Dumex Dupro 1-2 years. And there was also Dumex Dupro 0-12 months. So… which one should we choose without running the risk of baby elephants throwing tantrums? We grabbed the latter and prayed (hard!) that the elephants couldn’t tell the difference!

The journey to the east coast on the bright late Sunday morning took half hour more than two hours. From the city, we took the Karak Highway to get on the East Coast Expressway. We turned left to exit to Lanchang, and then turned right to the elephant sanctuary. Made it there at 1:30 p.m.; just in time for the fun to begin!

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Visitors are required to register upon arrival and prior to joining any activities, and it is at the main office that all the donation or contribution is left and collected. The video show had just started, showcasing in-depth footages about matters that revolve around wild elephants in Malaysia and the translocation of Amanda, Vincent and Carolina. Being the only elephant sanctuary in the country, Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre is the headquarter for the Elephant Relocation Team. Even though they started the translocation programme in 1974, the establishment of the centre by the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (PERHILITAN) dated 15 years back. It has since been a home to adult and orphaned elephants from Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and India, and only some of them are involved in the activities with the visitors. The rest of the elephants are in the process of training or treatment. Due to the nature of elephants living in herds, trained elephants are significantly needed in the translocation exercises, assuring the wild elephants that “these humans are moving us to a safer place; everything is going to be okay”.

Visitors are required to register themselves first before participating in any activities.

Registered visitors were ushered to the pathway along the river called Sungai Teris, which led us all to the open area where activities with the elephants happened. The big crowd was already surrounding three-four baby elephants. Some people brought along bananas and peanuts; the babies being babies were impatiently grabbing the food out of the visitors’ hands. How amusing!

Anwar, me, and a baby elephant.

The cleaning before hand-feeding session was when six elephants – from 72 year-old female from India to 5 year-old female from this country, specifically from Perak – were lined up to be bathed using water jet spray to remove their natural odour. These elephants were seen swaying their body from side to side, often perceived by humans as “dancing”, among several reasons: body stabilization and calming effects. The hand-feeding part turned out to be like a competition for the visitors, when everybody was rushing towards the elephants and picking pieces of fruits from the baskets to point to the mammals’ trunks. People took turns to take photos with the elephants, although some were being too careful to stand too near, afraid that these unpredictable animals would do something silly. Myself included, and I quickly moved away after a snap or two when the baby elephant’s trunk almost reached me, gaining a friendly smile from an elderly Caucasian man.

An elephant being water-jet-sprayed!

People are eager to hand-feed the ellies!

We, then, lined up in front of Platform 1 for the riding session on the largest mammal on land (like you didn’t already know the fact!). Mawar (or Rose, in English), a 16 year-old female hails from Johore, literally took us for a ride. The last, but absolutely not the least, activity of the day was bathing with the elephants. I skipped this part because I was having my menses, though it didn’t take away the fun of watching other visitors being on one elephant and tumbled over in the river. It’s not all dry when you want to spend time with animals that love water so much! A word of advice: Visitors are required to dress modestly for bathing (read: no bikinis!), as this is a Malay/Muslim community area.

Mawar taking us for a ride... literally!

Not that I’m complaining, but the elephant sanctuary doesn’t charge entry fee. Having said that, it would be very great if you could bring the required items they need. You can check out their official website or call +609 – 279 0391 on how else you can help.

To view more photos, check out my Flickr set.

National Elephant Conservation Centre,
Department of Wildlife and National Park,
Kuala Gandah, 28500 Lanchang,
Pahang Darul Makmur,
MALAYSIA.

Office Hour:
Monday-Sunday: 0800-1300 & 1400-1700
Friday: 0800-1245 & 1445-1700