Little reminders of advancing age are almost welcome (well, some of 'em).
It seems a truism that I have been warned of since I was knee high to a grasshopper; the more years you put under your belt the more difficult it becomes to correctly place life's milestones.
I really do have to be reminded how many years it has been since some of our elephants came from the streets, how old they etc. and it isn't just wishful thinking (honest) when I forget how old I am sometimes (and I mean in relation to the filling in of official forms or the answering of journalistic questions and not just the morning after a heavy night or when I'm still sore three days after 'helping' the mahouts dig a hole or some such when verbal reminders are superfluous and often under appreciated).
However, if you were to ask me where I was at 0147 on the night of 16th July 2008 I'd be able to tell you: in bed, sleeping, at the Bangkok Marriott Riverside - between (temporally speaking) Vietnamese elephants and a 'new land' summit on the 18th floor...
...and I know this because that is what the clock by the bed said when the phone rang with the news that Bua Tong, the ex-street walker who had been part of our mahout training camp for just over a year, had given birth to a healthy baby girl, later named Raimon and nicknamed Am.
So, a year has flown past, the baby has apparently grown - so say those who saw her last year but haven't been able to watch her grow - Bua Tong still hasn't really managed to control her which means walks in the camp often turn into chaos with limbs moving one way and trunks the other, houses hit the air and expensive equipment goes underfoot, but they have the top side of the valley above the camp to play in when it is not raining and she's a happy, if unruly, baby.
Looked after by a partnership of Raimon Land and Minor International with Bua Tong's upkeep contributed by Nathalie Coe, a guest of ours, she is happy and secure.
Now who's to tell if I'll remember this next year? Just in case we don't we thought we'd better make the first birthday special, Dr Cherry and I hit the fruit markets, cash in hand and with our baby-elephant-begging voices on, invited Am's friends and threw a wild (elephant) party...
(unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the birthday girl on her birthday, so here's one from the Malinowski shoot, Teri and K. Au getting in on the act)....
...piles of watermelon and even the big eles have wait (almost) patiently...
...Lamyai must be full already to show more interest in the camera than the food...
...no such confusion from Lynchee, food's food...
...Makam - always a good controlling Mum - has Nam Khong's birthday coming up next, mid-August (see, forgotten that date already) - I know I was here when the phone rang at 0430 (or thereabouts) for her arrival....
...not sure who's bums these are, but who am I to turn down a little symmetry?..
...and Meena and Jenny make such cute sisters.
I really do have to be reminded how many years it has been since some of our elephants came from the streets, how old they etc. and it isn't just wishful thinking (honest) when I forget how old I am sometimes (and I mean in relation to the filling in of official forms or the answering of journalistic questions and not just the morning after a heavy night or when I'm still sore three days after 'helping' the mahouts dig a hole or some such when verbal reminders are superfluous and often under appreciated).
However, if you were to ask me where I was at 0147 on the night of 16th July 2008 I'd be able to tell you: in bed, sleeping, at the Bangkok Marriott Riverside - between (temporally speaking) Vietnamese elephants and a 'new land' summit on the 18th floor...
...and I know this because that is what the clock by the bed said when the phone rang with the news that Bua Tong, the ex-street walker who had been part of our mahout training camp for just over a year, had given birth to a healthy baby girl, later named Raimon and nicknamed Am.
So, a year has flown past, the baby has apparently grown - so say those who saw her last year but haven't been able to watch her grow - Bua Tong still hasn't really managed to control her which means walks in the camp often turn into chaos with limbs moving one way and trunks the other, houses hit the air and expensive equipment goes underfoot, but they have the top side of the valley above the camp to play in when it is not raining and she's a happy, if unruly, baby.
Looked after by a partnership of Raimon Land and Minor International with Bua Tong's upkeep contributed by Nathalie Coe, a guest of ours, she is happy and secure.
Now who's to tell if I'll remember this next year? Just in case we don't we thought we'd better make the first birthday special, Dr Cherry and I hit the fruit markets, cash in hand and with our baby-elephant-begging voices on, invited Am's friends and threw a wild (elephant) party...
(unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the birthday girl on her birthday, so here's one from the Malinowski shoot, Teri and K. Au getting in on the act)....
...piles of watermelon and even the big eles have wait (almost) patiently...
...Lamyai must be full already to show more interest in the camera than the food...
...no such confusion from Lynchee, food's food...
...Makam - always a good controlling Mum - has Nam Khong's birthday coming up next, mid-August (see, forgotten that date already) - I know I was here when the phone rang at 0430 (or thereabouts) for her arrival....
...not sure who's bums these are, but who am I to turn down a little symmetry?..
...and Meena and Jenny make such cute sisters.
Posted by John Roberts at Sun, 19 Jul 2009 11:05:00 GMT 
Categories: Golden Triangle Elephants
Tags: raimon land minor nong am baby elephant birthday fruit buffet
Categories: Golden Triangle Elephants
Tags: raimon land minor nong am baby elephant birthday fruit buffet
John
Saw that you were missing Am 1st birthday photo. Here's the family portrait on the 1st birthday.
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...in answer to an e-mail question from Teri - here are Raimon's vital statistics on turning one.
Body Length = 181cm
Chest Girth = 182cm
Height = 118 cm
circumference of the neck = 110 cm
circumference of right front foot = 64 cm
Body condition score = 4/5
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Thanks, Dr. Cherry. Pretty big package for a little girl
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Dear John,
You know I think little Rai-Am is perfect. Absolutely perfect.
So for curiosity sake, I wonder if you will share with me what the Body Condition Score looks at or direct me to a reading source?
I can see where she may have trouble with her hair, having the similar coarse, unruly dark hair myself, but I doubt that would take her down a point overall
Best,
Teri
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I would love to reply this.
There are many methods to evaluate the body condition score. For me, I will give 5 as the full score. It comes from
1. Temporal (if full= 0.5, if not =0)
2. Scapular (shoulder, if you see the bone throughly, you give 0, if it so-so can give 0.5, and if it full =1).
3. Rib (as same as scapular).
4. Lumbar spine, you can see from the hind of the elephant (if the hight of the spine is more than the width= 0, if not much different =0.5, and if it nearly the same you give 1.
5. Pelvic area (if you can see the hip bone very well = 0, so-so = 0.5, cann't see = 1.
6. Tail (if you can see the bone= 0, but if you cannot see = 0.5)
It something like that.
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Dear Teri
How to perform a body condition index evaluation is part of the second day of our new Three Day Mahout Training course, that and a few other basic veterinary tricks.
Thanks
John
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Dear Dr Titiporn Keratimanochaya
Many thanks for the information on this. I too was going to ask prior to passing the article to my wife as I knew she would also demand to know why she was not perfect in every way.
Kind Regards
Mike
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...four from five, by the way, is normal for a domestic elephant - especially one still living mainly off mother's milk and not subject to the endless supplies of bananas of our full grown adults.
As with human children, we don't want our growing kids to be too fat.
JR
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Thank you Dr. Keratimanochaya. Does this mean that in a healthy, fit, mature elephant we do not want to see bones protruding? Perhaps the indication that they are there, but not protruding? And little Am is still growing into her frame perhaps?
In any event, John, I will look forward to the 3-day Mahout training next time if I qualify! My best to you both,
Teri
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