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The original reason I came to Sen Monorom - the Elephant Valley Project. The project is helping to rehabilitate previously working and traumatised elephants that have been maltreated or orphaned. It is fascinating to learn about the elephants, their individual personalities, the effects of their previous experiences, how the project is working with the wider community to fight for land rights and how the loss of knowledge in elephant care is tied up in the history of Cambodia. Basically money and corruption rule in Cambodia. The powers that be have been selling off all of Cambodia's resources and assets for some time now and seem to have little or no outlook for the long-term future of the country. Owing to the fact that indigenous groups in the area are dispersed and not homogenous but belong to various tribes, they currently have no collective autonomy over the land that they have been occupying for centuries. The project is working collectively with all of the tribes to gain legal rights over the land.
In terms of the loss of knowledge, Cambodia has a dark past relating to genocide that occurred in the 1970s. Pol Pot, head of the ruling party at the time, the notorious Khmer Rouge, massacred millions of his own people between 1975 and 1979. Estimates of the exact numbers killed vary between around 1.5-3 million from a population of around 7 million. The genocide literally wiped out a generation, (50% of the population are now under 25 years old) and much knowledge was lost with them including how to best care for working elephants. Basic knowledge such as, the amount of food and water an elephant needs and how many hours the elephant can work per day without suffering from exhaustion, has been lost.
Before I came to Asia I was excited about the prospect of an elephant ride through the jungle, but after hearing and seeing the long-term effects this has on the animals - I won't be hopping on any elephants anytime soon! Eventually the weight of carrying tourists on their backs (an unnatural strain for the animals as most of an elephant's strength is actually in their pulling power, rather than carrying heavy loads) leads to their ribcages being crushed inwards, leaving their spine noticeably protruding. One elephant had a serious scar on the top of its head where its mahout would control the animal by poking the open wound with a stick. I'll save you from the rest of the horror stories. Anyway, The Elephant Valley Project is a really interesting organisation. I would advise anyone who happens to be in Cambodia and is interested in elephants, to check it out: www.elephantvalleyproject.org.
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