Project Description
La Ong Dao ละอองดาว
Name meaning: Stardust
Arrival date: November 2014
Arrival age: 50
Rescue location: Pattaya
History: La Ong Dao was used in the logging industry before being moved to a trekking camp. She was worked to the point of exhaustion, carrying tourists on her back all day in the blistering Thai heat. It is obvious she was not treated very well before being rescued; her face has very distinct depigmentation markings, she is missing the bottom part of her tail, and she struggles with chronic eye infections, which are a result of her having no eyelashes to prevent dust from entering her eyes.
Characteristics: La Ong Dao has more orange skin depigmentation than any other elephant at WFFT due to the amount of time she spent working in the sun. Unsurprisingly, she now loves cooling herself down by swimming and giving herself mud baths. La Ong Dao now lives in our Midlands area and can usually be found close to little Pin. She has taken on the role of ‘grandma’ and is very protective of her.
Sponsor La Ong Dao today: Help us to finance the ongoing care for La Ong Dao by making a donation.
La Ong Dao’s Story
January 2022
La Ong Dao and Pun make a great parenting team
La Ong Dao (right, in image above) and Pun (left) make such a great team. La Ong Dao was more than 50 years old when she was rescued in 2014: she’d spent her life [...]
November 2019
La Ong Dao and Ganda Anniversary at WFFT Elephant Refuge
November 2019 marks the 5th and 2th anniversary for La Ong Dao and Ganda since they were rescued.
June 2019
Special Visitors – Joan Pearson and Friends
(Scroll down for English) สัปดาห์ที่ผ่านมาเราได้ยินดีตอนรับ คุณโจนส์ เพียร์สัน และกลุ่มเพื่อนๆ จากออสเตเรีย ผู้สนับสนุนการช่วยช้างหลายๆเชือกมาอย่างยาวนานที่ให้เกียรติมาเยี่ยมเยียนมูลนิธิอีกครั้ง !! WFFT Elephant Refuge จะเดินมาถึงจุดนี้ไม่ได้เลยถ้าขาดความเอื้อเฟื้อเเละการระดมทุนจาก คุณโจนส์ เพียร์สัน และกลุ่มเพื่อนๆ นอกจากการมาเยี่ยมเยียนในครั้งนี้เเล้วคุณโจนส์เเละเพื่อนๆยังใจดีซื้อผักเเละผลไม้หลากหลายชนิดจากตลาดเกษตรกรท้องถิ่นเเละช่วยกันเตรียมกับเหล่าอาสาสมัครเเละเจ้าหน้าที่ WFFT สำหรับสัตว์ที่มูลนิธิ Help Us Help More Visit > Volunteer > Donate www.wfft.org Last week we were [...]
December 2018
Intruder! Intruder!
🔊SOUND ON! We gave Pin's family a yoga ball for enrichment and their initial response was...a tad dramatic... https://youtu.be/lEc1B59alSI
Midlands Makeover
Last week our elephant volunteers gave a Midlands enclosure a makeover! The poles were repainted, some tire enrichments and a scratching post were set up, and sand piles were recreated for the sweet eles to [...]
November 2018
Pin’s 4th Birthday!
It was Pin's 4th birthday yesterday and we celebrated with a two tiered banana cake complete with tamarind candles. Everything was going just fine until Kaew Petch ran off with the cake! Pin did get [...]
October 2018
Singing in the Rain
This is 4 minutes of pure joy. Watch baby Pin's herd go for a swim and mudbath after a rainstorm! https://youtu.be/sNzWgedhYZU
How to Age Elephants
Did you know that elephants have 6 sets of teeth in a lifetime? Here are some other ways you can estimate the age of an elephant! https://youtu.be/eC7zQSYne3w
August 2018
Set off over the Seas! The Elephant Raft
Take a look at the infamous WFFT Banana Tree Raft, a fun enrichment that the WFFT volunteers love to create for Pin and her family. We recently said goodbye to our Elephant Volunteer Coordinator Dave, [...]
Pin’s Crew… Who knew grass grew on Ele’s.
Take a look at these photographs of Pin and Co. playing with the natural grasses and earth. One may say these ladies are truly caked in earth.
May 2018
Trunk Re-fill for La Ong Dao
La Ong Dao loves to drink cool fresh water from the hosepipe on a very hot day.
Pin and her Family…
Baby Pin is growing up very fast, although she will always be under the watchful eyes of her mother 'Pun' and doting aunties 'Kaew Petch' and 'La Ong Dao'. 3-year-old Pin rules the herd, her [...]
February 2017
Enrichment time for the ele’s
Here are some images from our latest ele tyre toy enrichments. Hours of fun was had when the new toy was given to Pin's herd, squeaks, rumbles, kicks and lots of trumpets galore. [...]
A Helping Hand (Trunk) for little Pin
As Pin explores her new enclosure she is under the close watch of her doting aunties, La ong Dao and Keaw Petch, and mother Pun. The new lake within the enclosure is considerably larger than [...]
WFFT’s Newest Elephant Enclosure
The latest new enclosure for elephants has just been completed at the WFFT Elephant Refuge - Thailand. We have created a new large area for Pin’s herd, tripling the size of their current habitat. Pin [...]
November 2016
Happy 2nd Birthday to our Special Little Princess
We held a birthday party for little Pin yesterday as she reached two years old. Here are some images of the celebrations with her mother Pun, and aunties Kaew Petch and La Ong Dao. Here’s [...]
June 2016
Our Little Elephant Family
Take a look at our little family of elephants, Pin and mummy Pun, and aunties La Ong Dao and Kaew Petch having fun exploring the neighboring enclosure while we plant new large trees within their [...]
November 2014
Welcome to La Ong Dao! 30 years of service of tourists and now retired!
Our November 2014 elephant rescue is about “La Ong Dao”, a 55 year old elephant that was rescued from an elephant camp in Pattaya, Thailand. La Ong Dao has worked in tourism for the last [...]
