After Edwin returned from the fundraiser in Sydney, Australia organised by Joan Pearson we had a problem.
Besides the funds raised to secure a large piece of land for the elephants where they can roam around free of chains for 24 hours a day there were also funds raised to rescue one of the street elephants. Edwin was determined to rescue a small elephant calf that was seen in Cha-am and Petchaburi as a begging tool and that made headlines in the Thai newspapers when he got stuck in a waste acces-point on a sidewalk in Petchaburi. This 2-year-old elephant was taken away from its mother when only just a year old and worked the streets till 2:00AM every day. Before Lucy, Noi and Edwin left for Sydney the owners of the elephant said they were willing to hand over ‘Khan Kluey’ to the centre if their debt for the elephant was taken over, however after return things got more complicated and it took almost two months for the deal to come through. Khan Kluey is now at the WFFT EREC and getting used to his new surroundings, the quite nights and most of all the other elephants at the centre. On a first try-out Khan Kluey was introduced (more his choice then ours as he made a runner towards the big beasts) to the adult females and he found a caring foster mother in Somboon, who joined him for an hour long swimming and bathing game. Currently Khan Kluey is getting less stressed by the day, but we feel it might take up to 6 months until he is less confused and really confident at the EREC.
