Today we joined a full-day tour of the Thai Wildlife Rescue Center after waking up to Gibbons calling to each other in the woods near us. I walked to get closer to a few elephants in the large open field near the Gibbon’s island (gibbons won’t cross water).
We saw many rescue animals that had either been pets or in captivity in cages, and learned much about how badly elephants, bears and even tigers are treated. Most of the animal are in large cages rather than wandering free because that couldn’t survive on their own without rehabilitation. Gibbons are slowly trained to live up high in their very tall enclosures, to enjoy swinging, and will be released when ready.
Elephants that are non-aggressive roam freely – others have large fields with tall walls if they can’t be trusted. We actually had to move quickly to walk away from their only male elephant that likes to pick up rocks and throw them at people. (We learned how baby elephants are trained to follow their keeper is horrifying – I won’t go into it here.)
One good result of Covid is that some zoos had to shut down and find alternative locations for some animals and the Wildlife Rescue was able to raise the money needed to build facilities for two that we saw – tigers from Phuket and a chimpanzee that had been caged for more than 30 years!
It came across clearly that the guides and volunteers are very committed to the welfare of these animals. Oh – the man that created this refuge along with a few others is still very involved – Edwin Wiek – he is here and we’ve chatted with him – he’s Dutch!
We stayed at the lodge the next day until a ride was available and again walked and enjoyed seeing the gibbons high in their large, tall cages as they prepare to be releases at some point (if possible).
2023 Travels of Pat and Dirk in Vietnam and other S.E. Asia countries 