Jun Update - August 2020

In 2015 AES partnered with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation on Operation: Save Jun in an effort to send assistance to help an approximately three year old elephant who suffered serious injuries to his forelimb after being snared.

Jun - August 2020

Much needed funds not only allowed for veterinarians to travel to Vietnam, but also, helped to build an effective treatment center for Jun and other elephants in the region and provided the necessary medical supplies for multiple sedations and debridement of the wounds . AES funds also supported the travel expenses of experts who worked with caretakers on training techniques that allowed for the regular, follow-up treatments of Jun’s injuries and establish proper training methods for other elephants in the future.

In an update we received the week of August 9, 2020, Jun’s caretakers report that he is still receiving daily treatments including foot soaks, and that he is healing very well.

Jun update

Jun is thriving at the ECC in Dak Lak, Vietnam.  He is growing into a young healthy bull with a handsome set of ivory.  He enjoys his training sessions and his enrichment, which he receives daily.  Thank you to all that have made his success possible.  Check out these videos of him on Facebook!

Jun Training Update

Our last update about the bull calf Jun in Dak Lak, Viet Nam came from this past August.  Jun has progressed wonderfully with his training to receive treatment from his mahout for his snare injury.  As you can see in this video, Jun is willing and able to take a foot bath.  This helps clean and heal his wound.  Continue to stay tuned to receive updates about his improving condition.  

The Regional Captive Asian Elephant Working Group Meeting

The meeting was held at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, June 11-12, 2015.  Asian Elephant Support was delighted to be able to fund Dr. Vanthinh Pham’s attendance at this meeting.  You may recall most recently AES, with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation, sent Dr. Khajohnpat Boonprasert and two senior mahouts from The Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, Thailand, to Vietnam to assist Dr. Pham in the treatment of the young wild bull, Jun, whose foot was badly damaged by a snare.  The mahouts also helped demonstrate to the Vietnam mahouts, who had little experience with wild elephants, how to help calm and better manage Jun for safe and effective medical care.

The meeting at the Chiang Mai University addressed establishing a comprehensive strategy and long-term plan for improving the management systems within elephant tourist camps across Southeast Asia.  Attendees also had the opportunity to share and learn from each other’s experiences and promote the best practices in elephant tourist camp management, and to build a network of captive Asian elephant experts who can work towards the goal of establishing and monitoring improved management systems in tourist camps.

Dr. Pham found the presentations that addressed setting up medical buildings with laboratories, health care, feeding and training for elephants, as well as mahout training most informative and was able to return to the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center in Vietnam with many useful ideas.

We at AES believe assisting those helping elephants develop friendships with others doing likewise is an important way to improve both the care the elephants receive as well as the knowledge and confidence so important for the veterinarian and mahout.  We couldn’t do this without you.  Thank you for your confidence and support!

Snare Victim - Bull Calf Jun

A story of collaboration, teamwork, and the paying forward of helping range country vets grow their abilities to help Asian elephants:

In 2014, Asian Elephant Support (AES) funded two veterinarians to educational workshops:  Dr. Vanthinh Pham from Vietnam to a workshop in Sri Lanka, and Dr. Khajohnpat Boonprasert (“Dr. Yeaw”), from Thailand, to the EEHV workshop held in the United States. Dr. Yeaw’s trip was funded both by AES and the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF).

Fast forward to 2015:
On the 19th of February, 2015, a young wild male elephant, since named Jun, was discovered by Yok Don National Park officials.  Dr. Vanthinh Pham and his team from the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center in Vietnam rescued him with care.

Jun was quite aggressive and Dr. Pham had difficulty effectively treating his moderately infected would that began getting worse.  Dr. Pram sought assistance from veterinarians experienced in treating such injuries and as well as help in training Jun with positive reinforcement to allow for safe treatment.

Dr. Khajohnpat Boonprasert (“Dr. Yeaw”), of The Elephant Conservation Center (TECC) in Lampang, Thailand, along with two of their highly experienced mahouts, traveled to Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center in Vietnam April 18th-25th.  Dr. Yeaw performed the initial surgical debridement, then guiding Dr. Pham in an additional debridement surgery.  The TECC mahouts showed their Vietnamese counterparts how to safely and humanely train Jun to accept further medical care.  And again, AES and GTAEF joined forces to fund this effort.

As of this writing Jun appears to be getting better, with both Dr. Yeaw and Dr. Pham happy with the progress. Dr Pham is better at handling him, now working on finding a way to get blood tests done.  And two veterinarians, in two different countries but sharing the same concern for Asian elephants, are now reaching across the border, sharing knowledge and helping.  We are delighted to see this story unfold, both that Jun is receiving help and that our investment in each of these gentlemen is paying itself forward in exactly the manner the Asian elephant needs.  

We are pleased to be able to share this effort with you and, as always, thank YOU for your support, without which we would not be able to make a difference.

AES helps to further a veterinarian's education

Mr. Pham Van Thinh, a veterinarian from the Daklak Elephant Conservation Center in Vietnam, attended the "Asian Elephant Health, Reproduction and Breeding Management" course, which took place in Sri Lanka this summer. This training course was conducted by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine & Animal Science of the University of Peradeniya, in collaboration with the Royal Veterinary College of the University of London, UK, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Chiang Mai University, Thailand, and the National Elephant Institute in Lampang, Thailand. The partner institutes were the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), Sri Lanka, Department of National Zoological Gardens (DNZG), Sri Lanka, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, USA.

The course focused on the management, nutrition, health, reproduction and breeding of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) with additional discussions on local and regional conservation issues. It had two components: a stand-alone distance learning (online-based) course of 6 weeks duration (12th May – 10th June 2014) that participants completed from their home countries; and a hands-on practical training course of one-week (7th – 11th July 2014) that was conducted on-site in Sri Lanka. The on-site training was conducted at the University of Peradeniya, Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage, Elephant Transit Home and Uda-Walawe National Park.

The course was attended by 22 participants from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam. Asian Elephant Support was proud to sponsor Dr Van Tinh Pham from Vietnam, who works at the Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) in the central highland province of Dak Lak. The ECC aims to protect both wild and domestic elephants in the Dak Lak province, where elephant population numbers are critically low.

The central highlands region is Vietnam's primary elephant habitat. The Dak Lak Elephant Conservation Centre reported that the central highlands region had around 502 captive and more than 550 wild elephants in 1980, but all that are remain now are 49 captive elephants and five herds of wild elephants numbering 60-70 individuals. Shrinking forests, illegal poaching, shortage of food, improper breeding techniques, and overworking have been the cause of deaths of both captive and wild elephants. Experts estimate that the captive elephant population will disappear in 20-30 years if they do not reproduce. According to the Dak Lak ECC, the reproduction rate of captive elephants over the past 30 years has been only 0.6 % per year, and the rate has dropped even further now because of limited opportunity to breed. To boost the captive population there is now an emphasis on reproduction, which was a primary focus in the training course attended by Dr Van Tinh Pham.