After many years of carrying tourists visiting the temples of Angkor on their backs, 14 pachyderms are enjoying a well-deserved retirement at the foot of Phnom Kulen.
Standing at a height of two and a half metres, Sambann gazes inquisitively at the visitors while swinging her trunk. Then, tempted by the banana on offer, she takes courage and approaches, delicately grasping her treat and accepting the caresses she is offered as a token of her thanks.
Seen up close, the imposing beast betrays its advanced age by its weathered skin and ragged ears, which never stop beating the air. At over 70, the doyenne of the herd is enjoying a peaceful end to her life, between baths and walks in the 445 hectares of land she shares with her fellow elephants. The 14 elephants have made their home in a place entirely dedicated to them, under the watchful eye of the Kulen Elephant Forest team.
Back to nature
It took more than eight months to prepare the land, dig the ponds, lay out the paths and erect, plank by plank, the gigantic traditional wooden structure sheltering visitors from the harsh Cambodian sun. When everything was ready, the herd, which used to live near Phnom Bakheng, began the long walk to their new home. The oldest, including Sambann, were given a ride in a truck, while the others followed on foot. Since then, everyone seems to have settled in, rediscovering the little habits and affinities that characterise the social life of pachyderms. “We were very lucky to find this land, which is only 35 kilometres from the temples of Angkor. The wide open spaces with a river running through them, the fabulous forest mixed with wide open spaces, the absence of mines and the tranquillity of the site all ensure that the elephants can thrive in the best possible conditions,” says David Piot, co-founder of the organisation.
Gentle integration
The Elephant Kulen Forest project was launched in 2016, but the search for a suitable site, its development and the logistics required to enable its 14 residents to flourish will have taken time and investment. Fifty people look after the pachyderms, which require not only care and attention, but also some three tonnes of food a day.
“We have an agreement with the village where we are based, which supplies us daily with the plants that the elephants love - banana trees, grass, sugar cane and so on,” explains David Piot.
“We do everything we can to ensure that the presence of the animals does not harm the people living in the surrounding area. We regularly carry out reforestation campaigns to replace trees damaged by elephants. Guard patrols ensure the preservation of biodiversity by preventing poaching and the illegal cutting of precious wood. The elephant reserve is also a valuable source of employment, and offers learning opportunities in a variety of fields”.
“Moving on”
Ensuring a peaceful retirement for a herd of 14 elephants is a major challenge, but one that has not intimidated David Piot. At the age of 23, the young man seems to have already lived several lives, all of them poles apart from his current activity. Until the age of 12, this French-Cambodian, “the son of a hostel owner” as he calls himself, grew up in Siem Reap. He wandered the as yet unpaved streets of the town, whose inhabitants wandered in sarongs among the hand-drawn signs. Then came his studies, first in Europe and Switzerland, then in the United States, where he specialised in finance. “When I was a teenager, I saw a report on France Télévision about people with atypical profiles, and I heard for the first time the phrase that now defines the way I live my life:
“Go where you are afraid”.
“At the age of 15, that seemingly insignificant moment spurred me on to take on any challenge. I was bad at maths, and when I saw a marked-up copy with zeros all over it, I decided to make it my speciality. I followed this challenge all the way to the United States to finish my degree in economics and finance, on my way to a master's degree in London, in the same field, at one of the world's most renowned universities. But during an internship between these two stages, I realised that this challenge had become nothing more than routine, that I was no longer afraid, apart from the fear of a banal life, lost behind a computer screen under the white light of halogen bulbs. I set myself a new challenge, to leave behind the comfort of an all-too-predictable life to reach out to the land of my childhood, and reconnect with a childhood dream. The financial chapter was closed: it was time to move on”.
A radical transition
It was in Cambodia that he found this “something else”. “As a child, I loved having dinner with adults, where exceptional people would come and tell extraordinary stories that I wanted to experience too. I'd like to be able to tell my children the same kind of stories that my parents and their friends used to tell me, to give them a taste for adventure. And then, after all those years of study, I really needed a good detox!”.
Taking over the reins of the company that organises elephant rides inside temples, and determined to break with this increasingly decried custom, he scoured the Cambodian countryside in search of the ideal site. He found it not far from the village of Bos Thom, and received the support of the relevant authorities.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, the Forestry Department, APSARA... Everything went very quickly thanks to them. We also got support, opinions and advice from international specialists and people already involved in elephant protection in Cambodia”.
Finding the right balance
Only a handful of elephant sanctuaries have been set up in the country, a far cry from the dozens of parks and tourist attractions that exist in Thailand. The subject is a sensitive one: combining conservation of the species, animal welfare and the safety of staff and visitors can sometimes be a headache. In the age of social networking, passions run riot and sometimes verge on caricature, often due to a lack of knowledge. For David Piot,
“It's important to strike the right balance between human control and animal welfare. Freedom of choice is important for an elephant's mental health, as its social and emotional life has a major impact on its overall well-being”.
“On the other hand, if animals are left too much to their own, the link between them and human beings is lost, which prevents us from caring for them and guaranteeing them a long life. Medical assistance for elephants can extend their life expectancy by 30 years’. The commercial appeal of some sanctuaries creates a difficult climate in which the pursuit of commercial interests undermines conservation”.
On the other hand, sanctuaries where elephants are left idle also have their share of tragedies:
“Most of the time, these 'sanctuaries' only house females, not males, who are much more difficult to manage and fall into musth at least once a year, a period lasting from 2 to 3 months, when their testosterone increases 60-fold and they attack anything that moves: fellow elephants, humans and other animals”, explains Pierre-Yves Clais, who has been working for several years to save the elephants within the Airavata association, founded with his wife Chenda. Based in Ratanakiri, the couple are trying to perpetuate the bond that has linked this animal to Cambodians for thousands of years, with the greatest respect for tradition.
An endangered species
Between 300 and 600 elephants are thought to still live in the wild in Cambodia, mainly in the Cardamom, Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri provinces. Deforestation, the reduction of their natural environment and the massive use of harmful chemicals are threatening the survival of the species more and more every day. Although poaching seems to have decreased over the last decade, it is unfortunately still practised. The discovery of an elephant corpse in the Keo Seima nature reserve, tusks sawn off, in February 2019 confirms this threat. “Yet these animals are one of Cambodia's strongest and oldest symbols,” points out David Piot.
“Can you imagine the temples of Angkor without associating them with elephants?”
Cambodia, elephant kingdom
Since time immemorial, there has been an exceptional symbiosis between man and this very special animal. Revered for its strength and wisdom, elevated to the rank of divinity by Hindus in the guise of the god Ganesh and Airavata, Indra's mount, the elephant contributed to the greatness of the Angkorian kingdom. A war animal, as witnessed by the many bas-reliefs depicting battle scenes, the powerful animal was also used extensively in the construction of temples. Not to mention its ceremonial role.
The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh used to be home to around a hundred pachyderms, which, until the 1960s, would go out to bathe in the nearby Mekong.
Among these, the presence of the great white elephant symbolised peace and prosperity for the kingdom, giving rise to many legends still told by the elders. Today, the departure of the last elephants from Angkor marks a symbolic transition in the socio-cultural place occupied by this animal in Cambodia.
A multitude of projects
Only 75 animals currently live in captivity in the kingdom, benefiting from care that guarantees them a life expectancy of up to 80 years. Offering several discovery packages to visitors, the managers of Kulen Elephant Forest are counting on the number of visitors to their site to guarantee the long-term future of this social enterprise. “We're not going to stop here, even if the effects of the coronavirus epidemic will undoubtedly cause many projects to be postponed,” confesses David Piot. “A clinic will be set up on site to provide the most complex and delicate care, while another clinic, this time mobile, will be able to criss-cross Cambodia to help the most remote populations”.
“New paths will be created, nurseries planted, education programmes developed and huts built to allow visitors and volunteers to stay overnight. Unfortunately, the drop in visitor numbers could easily cost us more than a year”.
Another challenge for David Piot, who is deeply attached to Cambodia: ”This country is in my blood, I've experienced its ups and downs, and nothing will stop me from continuing to share its destiny”.
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