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KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 – Katherine Connor has had everything at a very young age. At 21, she had a promising career in retail management, a home that she proudly named hers, and was engaged to. But the British made the decision to give up everything for, in her own words, "to be with elephants for the rest of my life."
"I had everything that any" normal "girl could wish for, but there was something in me that was not happy," said Boon Lott's founder, Elephant Sanctuary (BLES ), in Thailand, Malay Mail in an interview by e-mail. there was more for me as a person and so much more for life, so I left my job, sold my house, broke up with my fiance and greeted my friends. I had no idea what I was looking for or if I would find it – I just knew I had to follow my heart and try! "
And so she did it.In 2002, Connor jumped on a plane with a one-way ticket for an adventure around the world and never looked back." Six weeks after his arrival she was found volunteering at a Northern Elephant Hospital in Thailand, where she met Boon Lott, a prematurely sick calf suffering from mental illness
"Boon Lott, meaning" survivor "in Thai. I met him. He was so small and so fragile – I had never seen anything so precious and I immediately felt very protective of him and his mother, an elephant who called Pang Tong, "recalls Connor. 19659006] "I knew I had to be with him, be with elephants for the rest of my life. I did not know how, I just knew that I had to give everything.
Boon Lott was six months old when his owner decided to sell it to a tourist establishment and to return Pang Tong to illegal exploitation. To avoid this, Connor launched a fundraising campaign and raised enough money to negotiate an agreement with the owner to allow Pang Tong to stay with his baby.
Just when she thought she had escaped a major bullet to Boon Lott unexpectedly took a fall that left her hind legs paralyzed. Determined to put him back on his feet, Connor exhausted all his means to find a cure while looking after his needs day and night.
When Boon Lott was two years old, he could move with a special chair that Connor had built for him. ; but one last tragedy occurred when he fell again, this time slam his femur in half and he eventually died.
To honor him, Connor in 2007 established an elephant sanctuary on behalf of Boon Lott on land that she bought in Sukhothai. , with the mission of saving and rehabilitating the elephants of the tourism and logging industries of Thailand
Elephants, according to Connor, arrived at the BLES in different ways.
"Every elephant rescue is unique, sometimes tourists would contact us for seeing abused elephants, other times elephant owners would contact us directly because they are older." and that they are looking to retire, "said Connor.
" Those we have taken over the years are mostly old and weak, they are overworked, underfed and exhausted when 39, they arrive at us.
"Often the most dilapidated elephants are those who have worked in tourism, entertaining tourists by playing in circuses or being forced to have them." According to a recent study by World Animal Protection (WAP), the number of elephants caught in the wild and kept for entertainment in Thailand has increased by one third compared to the previous year. last five years. And while it's convenient to blame these kidnappers, Connor insists that tourists who want to interact with wild animals cause "the most damage".
"If people visiting Thailand made more compassionate, ethical and educated choices about the experience that they wanted to have, they could have really helped. For example, if people were paying the same amount of money, 39, money to walk next to an elephant, rather than sitting on his back, the owners of the camp would eventually see that the times were changing, that it was "It does not". So it's not fair when tourists turn around and accuse Thais of maltreating elephants, because it is they who have inevitably created this culture of cruelty to elephants. "
BLES has grown by leaps and bounds over the years; the 535 acres of woodland are home to 13 elephants, 13 dogs, 10 cats, 10 turtles, two monkeys, three wild boars and a crocodile – what Connor lovingly calls his family.
"At BLES, we are all one and that is, for me, the one sence of what makes a real sanctuary. Every animal here is a champion and being around them inspires me to work through the tough times, "said the single mother of five. His children help him run the shrine alongside 20 staff members
There are not two days in BLES where animals roam and live as naturally as possible.
"It's hard to keep a schedule, I had to take care of three of my elephants every morning," Connor shared, asked about her daily duties at the BLES
"Wassana, who in her forties, was standing on a mine years ago and was left with a permanently damaged foot. We dip her foot into a bath of turmeric feet every morning and clean her wound, before wrapping her in bandages. We have socks specially made for her and a boot that she wears during the rainy season.
"Pang Dow, on the other hand, has his wrist severely broken and his nails are prone to proliferation and cracking, too, and Lotus, who has a very weak immune system and is prone to having abscesses that we have to find out every day
"Once the treatments are finished, we walk all our elephants in the forest to different areas of release and let them explore their natural environment and enjoy a 100% diet natural. Our walks can last up to six hours One of the most beautiful things about BLES is the slow and easy pace in which we evolve – we live at the elephant! "
Watch out for Katherine Connor's story on Dodo Heroes tomorrow at 9pm on Animal Planet (Astro Ch 556) .For more information on BLES, visit www.facebook.com/BLESelephants/[19659006] Watch the trailer of the Dodo Heroes series here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwZvriPPCOw
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