Recent features in newspapers had turned an otherwise sleepy elephant sanctuary into a tourist hotspot on weekends. Usually quiet and largely unknown to outsiders, this sanctuary now knows traffic blues during the weekend, which was the case with me when I have decided to give it a go with my wife and my friend (his family, first timers like us too). The fact that Raub is only less than an hour's drive away from this place doesn't automatically makes it into the local attraction for everyone in the past but now, thanks to medias and travelogues like this one I'm writing, getting a ride on the back of the poor elephants can be a fuss - that is you have to book well over a month in advance, and if you're lucky enough too...
The journey was quite pleasant sauf a tad too many cars on a narrow kampung road. After snaking for about slightly less than an hour en route to Karak from the Lurah Bilut junction, we finally arrived on a hot Sunday afternoon (around 4 pm) but helas, there were too many local tourists for a few poor elephants - it was hot, the air was rusty from dust agitated from the laterite soil laid barren by a tractor trying to widen the parking for more tourist buses and I may dare say that in my opinion, most Malaysians make poor local tourists in terms of civil mindedness as well as discipline towards mother nature. Need I say more about the state of our public sanitary conditions?
Well, the good thing about coming late (except for missing the elephant bathing in the stream excitement) was that people were already leaving in droll and so it was actually more pleasant. Registration at the office was quick and tags were given free for visitors to enter the sanctuary. After a quick pit-stop at the loo, we were making quick rounds on the sandy ground of the sanctuary. Children were still playing in the stream, shrieking in excitement in the rusty coloured stream while busy last minute tourists like us were busy clicking away and posing with the elephants. Meanwhile, the animals did not seem to be one bit bothered by the fuss around them, enjoying the afternoon feed and the water jets by the keepers to help them cool down. These elephants are 're-educated' here because they were caught either wandering too far off from their designated fate (the remaining swatches of our jungles) or because they were caught damaging man's property. This is where we need to understand why animals 'attack' human. Wonder who's the real aggresor here...
Soon, there were not much left to do and so we decided to head to the deer park. This one , however, was not free - a RM5 entrance fee is imposed to help maintain the place but again, I think any effective wildlife 'display' should be as natural as possible and so-called zoos should never be allowed to keep endangered species if they're not seriously invested in conservation projects concerning their keeps. Any animals viewed outside the animals' natural environment shall never compensate for the knowledge sake that so many so-called manege (won't even call them zoo) try to promote. In fact, their papers should be checked to find out the origine of their kept displays. Do we really need zoos with all the nature programs spinning around our cable tvs? I think it is time that people should review the outdated concept of zoos created in the 19th century to amuse the then less-travelled, less-educated public with exotic animals. Well, back to the story of the deers, there were actually quite a few of them around befitting the name of the place but again, sanitary condition of the kept animals remain certainly an open question on how well privately owned 'zoos' could maintain their maneges. As for the deers (only one species, the local rusa), they were quite used to human presence and I got saliva marks on my shirts because the hungry deers were trying to grab the potatoes from my hand and some had decided to literally 'ask' from me by pulling at my shirt!
The journey was quite pleasant sauf a tad too many cars on a narrow kampung road. After snaking for about slightly less than an hour en route to Karak from the Lurah Bilut junction, we finally arrived on a hot Sunday afternoon (around 4 pm) but helas, there were too many local tourists for a few poor elephants - it was hot, the air was rusty from dust agitated from the laterite soil laid barren by a tractor trying to widen the parking for more tourist buses and I may dare say that in my opinion, most Malaysians make poor local tourists in terms of civil mindedness as well as discipline towards mother nature. Need I say more about the state of our public sanitary conditions?
Well, the good thing about coming late (except for missing the elephant bathing in the stream excitement) was that people were already leaving in droll and so it was actually more pleasant. Registration at the office was quick and tags were given free for visitors to enter the sanctuary. After a quick pit-stop at the loo, we were making quick rounds on the sandy ground of the sanctuary. Children were still playing in the stream, shrieking in excitement in the rusty coloured stream while busy last minute tourists like us were busy clicking away and posing with the elephants. Meanwhile, the animals did not seem to be one bit bothered by the fuss around them, enjoying the afternoon feed and the water jets by the keepers to help them cool down. These elephants are 're-educated' here because they were caught either wandering too far off from their designated fate (the remaining swatches of our jungles) or because they were caught damaging man's property. This is where we need to understand why animals 'attack' human. Wonder who's the real aggresor here...
Soon, there were not much left to do and so we decided to head to the deer park. This one , however, was not free - a RM5 entrance fee is imposed to help maintain the place but again, I think any effective wildlife 'display' should be as natural as possible and so-called zoos should never be allowed to keep endangered species if they're not seriously invested in conservation projects concerning their keeps. Any animals viewed outside the animals' natural environment shall never compensate for the knowledge sake that so many so-called manege (won't even call them zoo) try to promote. In fact, their papers should be checked to find out the origine of their kept displays. Do we really need zoos with all the nature programs spinning around our cable tvs? I think it is time that people should review the outdated concept of zoos created in the 19th century to amuse the then less-travelled, less-educated public with exotic animals. Well, back to the story of the deers, there were actually quite a few of them around befitting the name of the place but again, sanitary condition of the kept animals remain certainly an open question on how well privately owned 'zoos' could maintain their maneges. As for the deers (only one species, the local rusa), they were quite used to human presence and I got saliva marks on my shirts because the hungry deers were trying to grab the potatoes from my hand and some had decided to literally 'ask' from me by pulling at my shirt!
A photo-op with the missus
Two elephants feeding, legs chained
Feeding the deers with pieces of potatoes
Proud as a peacock...Anybody interested to visit the National Elephant Conservation Centre at Kuala Gandah should write to this address:
Head,
National Elephant Conservation Centre,
Department of Wildlife and National Parks,
Kuala Gandah, 28500 Lanchang,
Pahang Darul Makmur, MALAYSIA
Tel: 006 09 2790391
National Elephant Conservation Centre,
Department of Wildlife and National Parks,
Kuala Gandah, 28500 Lanchang,
Pahang Darul Makmur, MALAYSIA
Tel: 006 09 2790391
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