"(♪♪♪)" "♪ It feels so warm." "Lying in your mother's arms." "Nothing can hurt you." "You're free from harm when" "Y0U're young ♪" "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Itallbeginswhen  she is born in the forest." "Her family are the largest animals still walking upon the earth." "(♪♪♪)" "But their world has changed." "(♪♪♪) [elephants trumpeting]" "(♪♪♪)" "[chains clanking] [tailgate slamming]" "[Car engine]" "[elephant groaning]" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "InThailand,maybe a hundred years ago, must have been over a 100 " "200,000 elephants, at least." "Right now, there are only 2,800-something captive elephants." "And maybe just a 1,200 wild elephants." "So all together, we're talking about 4,000." "[elephants trumpeting]" "Narrator:" "Thisnewbornbaby and her mother are known as Elephas Maximus or the Asian elephant." "They once roamed freely through these forests as caretakers of the ecosystem." "But 95% of the forest they used to call home is now gone." "And with fewer than 45,000 Asian elephants remaining in the world, they are classified as an endangered species." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Over300captive elephants live in Surin province in northeastern Thailand." "Only 5O years ago, this area was mostly forest with plenty of wild elephants." "It is now one of Thailand's most productive rice growing regions and there is little natural forest left." "The last wild elephant was captured here over 5O years ago." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:35captive elephants now live in this village." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Itis a community that has preserved it's traditions of keeping elephants." "Even though the world has changed around them." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Grandfatherwas once a wild elephant catcher." "Now, too old to work, he relies on his grandchildren to take care of the family elephant." "Nong Mai is the family elephant." "(♪♪♪)" "Grandpaandhis granddaughter, Duen, bought Nong Mai when she was just 3 years old." "They bought her to work in the street begging business run by" "Uncle Saweang." "For the past three years, the family has entrusted Nong Mai to the care of grandson Wok." "Wok is 26 years old, and Nong" "Mai is his first elephant." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Forcenturies, elephants have always been a familiar part of village life." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Thetraditions of elephant care are handed down from one generation to another." "(♪♪♪)" "[laughing]" "Narrator:" "Mostof the elephants here work in tourist camps." "But for Wok and his family, street begging with their elephant is the family business." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Wok'sfamily is from an ethnic group known as Guay." "The Guay people have lived in" "Surin province near the border with Cambodia for many centuries." "They were famous as wild elephant catchers, and the men who hunted elephants were honoured." "It was a dangerous way of life filled with secret rituals and mysterious beliefs." "The Guay would train their captives and sell them as beasts of burden for use in logging and transportation." "Eventually, there were no more wild elephants left to catch." "A ban on logging in 1989 and left over 2,000 captive elephants and their human families out of work." "Tourism was the only legal work left for the once proud elephant catchers." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Forthousands of years, elephants have played a central role in Asian culture, and nowhere more than Thailand." "The use of elephants in transportation and logging once helped to build the natio♪s economy." "They were Thailand's equivalent of heavy machinery and they were used in warfare to defend the natio♪s freedom and conquer it's enemies." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Elephantsarethe  number of one attraction in the tourism industry." "A business that brings" "$40 billion into Thailand every year." "The annual festival in Surin is the place where people buy and sell elephants and elephant parts like skin, bones, and ivory." "(♪♪♪)" "Underthetransportact , the owner of an elephant is allowed to dispose the carcass or any parts of the elephant after it dies or even some parts when it's still alive anyway they like." "It's not illegal to sell the tusks from a domestic elephant." "Well, how can you tell the difference between ivory from a domestic elephant and ivory from a wild elephant?" "Of course, it's impossible." "Narrator:" "Sellingivoryfrom these domestic elephants is currently allowed." "But the trade is so poorly regulated that it has been exploited as a front to sell smuggled tusks of African elephants." "Enabled by a legal loophole," "Thailand is one of the biggest markets servicing the global ivory trade." "The loophole threatens not only" "Asian elephants in Thailand but all elephants worldwide." "Narrator:" "Theelephant's popularity is also their misfortunate." "(♪♪♪)" "The growing demand for elephants in Thailand's tourism industry is supplied by an elephant population that is now endangered." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Wokis amahout which is the name for someone who looks after elephants." "Being a mahout was once a respected job." "But the traditional ways of elephant keeping are changing." "It's against the law to street beg with elephants." "So hiding an elephant in the city is Wok's solution." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "A goodhideaway lowers the risk of getting arrested and increases the chances of making money." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Elephantsspend most of the day eating." "To stay healthy, Nong Mai has to eat over 5% of her body weight per day" "(♪♪♪)" "[laughter]" "The day-to-day chores of elephant keeping builds a relationship." "A relationship that could last a lifetime." "Whetheryoubelieveornot that they should be in captivity, they are in captivity." "And it's a relationship that goes back at least 4,000 years, and my own feeling is -- surmised, unscientific -- is that I think it probably goes back to the paleolithic." "So political correctness says," "No, they should not be kept in captivity." "But we have this relationship with them that goes back a millennia and it's fascinating." "And, you know, why and how did this relationship happen?" "[elephants trumpeting]" "Narrator:" "It'sbeensaidthat" "Buddha was born as an elephant in a previous life." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Buddha'sbelieve the qualities of the elephant" " their empathy, patience, and strength -- are essential attributes to follow on the path to enlightenment." "(♪♪♪)" "EveryThaimanisexpected to be ordained as a Buddhist monk for three months during his lifetime." "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Beforethey'reordainedto go through this three months process, they make these charming but gawdy costumes, you know, with kinda really cheap cloth and coloured paper and gold foil crowns." "They are meant to be like the" "Buddha himself who was a prince." "He was due to be a king, and he gave it all up to meditate." "So they dress the boys up like him, so when they ride to be ordained, they have to be on the back of an elephant." "In some villages in the old days, if you did♪t have an elephant you'd use a horse." "If you did♪t have a horse, you'd ride on the shoulders of a friend to be ordained as a monk." "So the elephants play a really simple role." "It's a lovely image, and it's fun to be there." "It's nice to see, but there's no way you can support a family on these events." "(♪♪♪)" "Whenyoutalktothe" "Guay, Why are you bringing this elephant into the city?" "Do♪t you know it's horrible?" "Do♪t you know it's wrong?" "And often they will be," "Yeah, sure." "We know that." "But at home there is no work for the men and there's no food or water for the elephants, so, therefore, we're forced to do this." "Street monitoring enabled them to just work by themselves, to not have a boss, and that's when the street wandering into" "Bangkok started." "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪) [rain falling]" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "[thunder]" "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "WoktookNongMai when she was just 3 years old to work in his Uncle's Saweang's illegal elephant camp on the outskirts of Bangkok." "[birds chirping]" "(♪♪♪)" "♪ You want and you dream." "You smile and it seems." "The day's so long and clean when you're young." "You laugh." "You scheme." "You chase down the first moonbeam." "The nights too soon it seems when you're young." "It feels so warm lying in your mother's arms." "Nothing can hurt you." "You're free from harm when" "You're young." "You fall asleep and hope you wake a bit older and then you'll know." "All that you did♪t know when you were young." "But now your lost, lying in some stranger's arms." "No one beside you." "No one to guide you from now on." "(♪♪♪)" "You're all alone." "Moved so far away from home." "You're out in the world." "Out on your own." "You're thinking, why does everything hurt?" "Do♪t want to admit." "You planned all of it." "Ithappenedlong before you knew it." "You ca♪t rewind." "You've run out of time." "You wake up and you're old." "Your life behind you." "Your story told." "Your memories unfold to when you were young." "To the beach." "The fair." "The sunshine's in sweeter air." "Nothing can compare to when" "You're young." "When you were -- when you were" " when you were young ♪" "Narrator:" "Elephantsspend nearly two years in the womb." "The longest pregnancy of any animal." "This long gestation means that they can walk just after birth and immediately begin to sense the world around them." "Most Asian elephants can live over 7O years." "But like all wild elephants, her destiny is now challenged." "Instead of living peacefully with her mother, she could be captured and taken from her family to work for humans." "Traditionally,anywherein" "Asia, people prefer not to breed elephants." "Not because it was impossible because they breed quite easily." "The trouble with breeding elephants is if you breed a female you're gonna lose a lot of productive work from her during the late stages of pregnancy and when she's nursing the calf." "Whereas if you capture a wild elephant then you can get the elephant when it's seven or eight years old." "So that's seven or eight years of work that you do♪t have to put into caring for that calf." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Capturingwild elephants from their rapidly shrinking habitats has accelerated the decline of the wild elephant population." "The price of an elephant has more than tripled over the past 15 years." "Today, it costs over $30,000 to buy one baby elephant." "Even though wild elephants are protected by law in" "Thailand, the weak enforcement of regulations enables the illegal capturing and trading to continue." "Sometimes the mother elephants are injured or killed while trying to protect their calfs." "[truck engine]" "We'veneverhadthe situation where the number of baby elephants born in captivity has been sufficient to meet the demand for young and baby elephants in the tourism sector." "So that has led to, you know, illegal capture of elephants in the wild in Thailand." "But as that has gotten more and more difficult with better protection, it's illegal smuggling of elephants across the borders from Laos and from Myanmar." "You know, because what everybody wants in the tourism industry is a baby elephant to have around their hotel because it's so cute and the guests like it." "After they grow up, okay, then maybe, you know, they do♪t want them around the hotel anymore." "They ca♪t go into the logging industry because it does♪t exist anymore." "So that's when they go into this street begging or other, you know, travelling circuses and things like that." "Well, owners do♪t need to work." "They can do just fine not working." "But the fact is, in some senses, it's a symbiotic relationship and practically speaking in" "Thailand, every elephant has to take care of at least one and maybe two extended human families." "So money is needed." "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Wehearalot ,like, say from animal right's people saying, you know, If you go to" "Thailand, do♪t go to an elephant show, do♪t take an elephant ride." "It's demeaning to the elephant." "It's dangerous to the elephant, et cetera, et cetera." "What they do♪t realize is that it's the only legal form of work in Thailand." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "UndertheDraft" "Animal Act of 1939, captive elephants have to be registered when they are" "8 years old." "This is a loophole that enables young elephants caught from the wild to be laundered into the tourism industry with phony registration papers." "Captiveelephants,or so  called domestic elephants, come under the jurisdiction of the transport law as beasts of burden." "And this is a law that dates from the 1920s or 1930s and is completely outdated." "The problem with this is it does provide a number of loopholes, so it's very easy to illegally smuggle an elephant from a neighbouring country or steal one from the forest." "You've got several years to train it." "You do♪t actually have to prove where it was born." "You do♪t have to demonstrate which elephants where it's parents." "(♪♪♪)" "90%ofthoseanimals are privately owned." "Privately owned." "And this is, well, it is officially an endangered species." "It's an extremely bizarre situation where you have this big dangerous endangered species in private homes." "Narrator:" "Thehumanneedto expand has changed the landscape of the illegal elephant camp." "Even Uncle Saweang's street elephants have lost their habitat." "Finding a new hideaway will be a challenge." "Even if he wanted to return to his home and take up farming," "Uncle Saweang cannot." "He had to mortgage the family's land to buy his own elephants." "And to make ends meet, he has rented elephants from other owners to increase his revenue." "Because he is so deeply in debt" "Uncle Saweang has little choice but to keep going." "(♪♪♪)" "Alotof theelephants that you find in the streets of Bangkok now are essentially rental elephants." "They're the Asian equivalent of" "Hertz rent an elephant." "Hey, if it's your own elephants you're gonna be careful of it in traffic, you're gonna make sure that it gets natural foods, the health of the elephant is gonna be paramount to the dollars" "that come in." "But that formula changes somewhat if everybody is around the elephant." "Everybody that's bringing that elephant into Bangkok." "It's not my elephant." "They have to watch out to some extent because they're still going to be responsible to that owner, who is, you know, often the equivalent of charitably a big businessman but less charitably often a kind of a " "I would♪t say mafia but a, you know, a local power lord." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "A streetbegging elephant makes about" "$200 per night." "This business makes a lot of money." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Whetherit 'sfor love, or pity, or even just curiosity, people will always pay money to see the elephants perform." "And the elephants have no choice but to go along with the deal." "(♪♪♪)" "Imeantheproblemis, you know, people right now have a reverence and a love for elephants." "It may not be expressed in the right We)'" "I mean, this street begging, for example, because people have that reverence then they buy a pineapple, they buy a banana too" " to feed the elephant." "That's not helping in the long term really." "(♪♪♪)" "Theyreallyknowwhat a job is." "If you set them to do something, it could be as real and earnest as dragging a I09 "" "[elephants trumpeting]" "" "Oras trivialasmaking a painting." "They know what a job is." "They know about the beginning of a job, the end of a job." "So you end up with these almost contractual relationships with them." "[man shouting]" "Thestandardthoughtwhenyou think of domesticated elephants, how did it ever happen?" "And most people go, Gee, how did man, such a puny little species, tame this beast." "This -- you know, 10- 11- 12-foot tall at the shoulder." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Manypeoplebelieve that to teach the elephants to obey humans, requires the breaking of the animal's spirit." "This northern Thai ceremony, known as the phajaan, is performed when separating the calf from it's mother." "It's believed that the ceremony severs their bonds so that the calf will accept dominance from humans." "This tradition is not easily understood." "No one likes to talk about it." "(♪♪♪) elephants have been subjected to something similar." "(♪♪♪)" "Perhapsit'sbecause elephants do♪t forget." "That respect for this dominance stays with them, usually, but not always forever." "Remember,themalesare just stone killers and why not?" "I would hope if I were in their situation I would be that way." "I do♪t want to be kept in chains." "Deep inside -- genetically, behaviorally -- they're a wild animal." "Pure and simple." "Therefore, they're exceedingly dangerous." "If somebody captured you and put a chain around your foot and kept you in a room and funneled food into you, and there was any chance of your getting back at your captor, would you do so?" "Certainly would." "That's why elephants kill people." "They do♪t want to be where they are." "(♪♪♪)" "Amahout'srelationship with his own elephant is often a lifelong bond." "But throughout the years that they live and work together, does a mahout's ever really know what his elephant is thinking?" "Every elephant is different." "Working with someone else's elephant can be very risky." "Such was the case with" "Wok's cousin, Sawai, the son of Uncle Saweang." "One day, he had to take care of someone else's elephant." "It was an elephant who may have wanted revenge." "(MI)" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Peopleoftenrefertothem as domesticated elephants in which they're not, you know." "Dogs and cats are domesticated because we've selectively bred them over generations and generations for specific traits." "Nobody has ever selectively bred elephants over generations and generations so they are essentially still wild elephants in captivity." "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Theelephantis truly a super keystone species." "The living species that takes care of the forest, and the reason that Asia has these lovely tropical forests is because elephants worked on them for 20 million years." "And that's why we've these lush, you know, forests." "Well, we had." "Now, people have started to outgrow most living things and started to invade their spaces." "(♪♪♪)" "Whydo♪twe justlet them all go back to the wild?" "The scientist term for that is reintroduction." "To introduce back into the wilderness, and domesticated elephants are superb candidates to be rereleased back into the wild." "And at that level, I mean, if it was possible to do so and there was a button on the wall that said, release all elephants," "I would do it in a moment." "Even though it would put me out of a job." "Narrator:" "Thereis one organization that is trying to do just that." "The Elephant Reintroduction" "Foundation of Thailand has been reintroducing captive elephants back to the forest since 2002." "It is an unprecedented project initiated by her Majesty Queen" "Surikit of Thailand." "Not only to help protect the natio♪s endangered elephants, but also to help regenerate the forests." "There have been over 90 elephants released here." "(♪♪♪)" "Bybringingthecaptive elephants back into the wild, reintroducing them into their natural habitat, we are trying to help preserve them from extinction." "Reintroducing them into the natural habitat is only 50% of our work." "The other 50% is to have them successfully reproduce so that the number of births equal at least the number of elephant deaths per year." "Only when that can be done, we can say we are saving the elephant from extinction." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Withfewerareas to roam freely and the impacts of poaching, the wild elephant population could be extinct in 30 years." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Discouragedby the hardships of the elephant business, Wok takes Nong Mai home with hopes of starting a new life." "[birds chirping]" "Narrator:itdid♪ttake long for Wok to settle back into the simple routines he grew up with." "But keeping Nong Mai in the village was just not that easy." "(♪♪♪)" "♪ I know I said the right thing this time." "I've weighed it down a thousand times in my mind." "Just want to be your good love again." "I thought that you would be mine until the end." "The end of my pain." "The end of the rain." "The end of the line once every time." "The end of my day." "Hoped you would be the end of my one again ♪" "(♪♪♪)" "♪ And now, I want to do the right thing in time." "I want to know how to make you lovesick because I'm trying." "Just want to be your good love again." "I hoped that would be mine until the bitter end." "The end of my pain." "The end of the rain." "The end of line until it's time." "The end of my day." "I hoped you would be the end of my wandering again." "The end of my wandering again." "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "LifeforWok 's family was changing." "The chores of elephant keeping were being replaced by new opportunities in farming." "But for Nong Mai, farm life had some problems." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Wokdecideshemust  return to street begging with" "Nong Mai to make some money." "It is customary for the Guay to pray to the spirits before an elephant and mahout leave home." "Grandmother makes an offering to bless and hopefully protect Nong" "Mai and Wok from harm." "(♪♪♪)" "[elephants trumpeting]" "[engine starting]" "(♪♪♪)" "♪ It does♪t hurt me." "Do you want to feel how it feels?" "You want to know, know that it does♪t hurt me." "Do you want to hear about the deal I'm making?" "You." "You and me." "And if I only could, make a deal with God," "I'd get him to swap our places." "Be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building." "If I only could, oh." "You do♪t want to hurt me." "But see how deep the bullet lies." "Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder." "There's a thunder in our hearts, baby." "So much hate for the ones we love." "Tell me we both matter, do♪t we?" "You." "You and me." "You and me wo♪t be unhappy." "If I only could make a deal with God," "I'd get him to swap our places." "Be running up that road, be running up that hill, be running up that building." "Be running up that hill if I could." "Be running up that hill if I could." "Be running up that hill if I could." "Be running up that hill if I could ♪" "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "[cow mooing] [dog barking]" "(♪♪♪)" "[elephants trumpeting]" "Narrator:" "NongMailhas no way of know that she is not returning to the city." "An usual buyer has made an offer that will change" "Nong Mai's fate forever." "She will never have to ride in a truck again." "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Farfromthe  human world, a baby elephant in the wild will remember the smells and sounds of the forest for her lifetime." "It's these memories that help her survive." "As a captive elephant for half her life, what memories might help Nong Mai survive in this forest?" "She was released by the Elephant" "Reintroduction Foundation, and this was much more than just setting her free in the forest." "Not every captive elephant is well-suited to be returned to the wild." "An elephant suitable for release must be healthy and strong." "It can take time for them to readapt to a life without humans." "But Nong Mai was the perfect candidate." "And she had no trouble adjusting to the freedom of the forest." "It took only a few hours for her to find a friend." "(♪♪♪)" "It was Pompang, an older reintroduced female who bonded with her immediately." "Elephants, especially family elephants, live in cooperative social groups to help each other survive." "Nong Mai became part of this family of formally-captive elephants." "She learned from the others about which plants to eat and where to find them." "Asian elephants have a very important role in nature as they roam the forest, elephants disperse seeds in their dung." "Especially seeds too heavy to travel any other way." "They open clearings to enable sunlight for new plants." "They create trails that serve as highways for all other animals." "They are an essential part of building biodiversity." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Elephants communicate with each other in many different ways." "They speak with a variety of sounds and subsonic rumbles which are inaudible to humans." "Their highly sensitive trunks, which are like the human hand, are constantly used to smell and touch other family members." "To share information and feelings." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Theyalsogiveoff chemical signals to express what they're thinking or feeling." "This stimulates their superior sense of smell that is five times more sensitive than the human nose." "Elephants,youknow,have been just another animal to me until I found out, no, elephants are not animals." "They are another living species very close to human beings because they can think, they have emotions, they can speak, they, you know, communicate." "You know, they have emotions that are very close to human emotions." "They also know the self." "They know who they are." "The elephant knows that he or she exists as an individual." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "NongMaiand" "Pompang have become inseparable." "Despite the years that they are behaviour was shaped by humans, they have quickly learned to follow their own instincts and depend on each other." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Thesereintroduced elephants come from many different captive places within Thailand and are likely not related." "But they have been able to form family groups just like wild elephants." "The sublangka wildlife sanctuary is one of three sanctuaries where the Elephant" "Reintroduction Foundation has released captive elephants." "These three protected areas total almost a half-a-million acres of natural habitat." "Mosttheelephantsthatwe have been working with have been very happy" "They are growing old naturally in an environment that theylove." "They have grown healthier." "We are seriously involved in trying to have elephants breed naturally in these natural habitats so that they can, you know, self sustain the population." "Narrator:" "Whilewantingof reintroductions to provide a better life for elephants, the ultimate goal is to reestablish self-sustaining wild populations in the areas where wild elephants used to live." "The true measure of success is that they have mated and produced wild-born babies." "In these forests, the elephants can be themselves." "Unlike in the tourist camps where many of them come from, here there are no tricks to perform and there are no tourists." "Since these elephants have been released, the forests have improved." "Today, there are 77 reintroduced elephants living here, and since" "2011 there have been eight elephants born." "This is one conservation model that may provide hope for the future." "And Nong Mai will perhaps have a role in this future." "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Theyoung elephants born here might never know what it is like to walk in chains." "(♪♪♪)" "♪ It feels so warm." "Lying in your mother's arms." "Nothing can hurt you." "You're free from harm." "(♪♪♪)" "(♪♪♪)" "Narrator:" "Thisis theend  of the elephant story." "They are now doing what most wild elephants like to do which is having nothing to do with people." "Oh,she'scoming." "She's coming." "[elephants trumpeting]" "That'sNongMaiinthefront ." "[background chatter]" "NongMaiis clearly exhibiting a lot of aggression." "She's become actually a bit Wild." "The big one is Pompang." "Pompang's actually the matriarch." "All these other elephants that are with her with are the younger elephants here in the sanctuary." "And they've all kind of formed this little herd." "So Nong Mai is kind of the boss." "It seems like she really just wants us to get out of the way." "Nong Mai." "[laughter]" "Well,we'veseensomething that we never expected we would see." "Thatwasgreat." "NongMaihasgonecompletely wild and she's part of a heard with Pompang as a leader, but then there's three other young elephants about her same age with her to so there's a total of five of them there." "Narrator:" "Theyhadchasedus behind that line that now divides their world from ours." "But one stayed behind." "She was walking out to our human world one last time as if to show us that our worlds are not so different." "Perhaps she remembers what we have forgotten." "That maybe we are more like each other than we realize." "Or maybe she was just coming to gay goodbye." "(♪♪♪)"