Meet SIDOR KUM.  She is 60 years old and has joined Mae Taeng Elephant Park from an elephant camp in Chang Dao.  SIDOR KUM joined us 20 days ago.  She is a very gentle elephant. During a routine health inspection; which all new elephants to our camp undergo, it was discovered that she had a very bad abscess on her back. It is suspected that the abscess was caused by an ill-fitting seat used when riding.  Before becoming a park elephant, she spent a long time in the logging camps in the North of Thailand, where life was very hard, for both elephant and mahout.  When the Thai Government banned the logging industry, Sidor Kum and her mahout, along with many other redundant elephants, took to the streets to beg for 'hand-outs' from tourists and residents alike. 

Our resident vet, Khun Imm, has been treating the abscess and thinks it will take a few months to heal.  Meanwhile, Sidor Kum will relax in the park, hopefully, receiving many bananas from our visitors.

SIDOR KUM’s mahout is called SITEANG.