Dung Counts and Vitamin Balls

Lakshmi having a snack in her clean bed

A day in the life of a volunteer at MEF is fairly structured. Each morning, volunteers awake at dawn to meet their Mahout and walk to their elephant’s bed. Here, the Mahout will greet his elephant with a friendly “Ayubowan,” which is “hello” in Sinhalese. After a few loving pats on the trunk from the Mahout, he then leads his elephant out so volunteers can safely clean the bed.

Here is where the fun begins. As soon as the bed is elephant-free, volunteers pick up, move and count the dung left from the elephant the night before. Volunteers are instructed to keep track of dung counts as a way to ensure the elephant is healthy and their digestive system is working normally. Pooja seems to maintain a steady count of 60. 

Heading down to the river for bath time

Once the bed is cleaned, the elephants at MEF have a bath in the river. Washing an elephant is a unique experience, but it can also be a dangerous one. Sometimes an elephant will kick its leg or flap its trunk in the river, which could cause injury to someone who is inexperienced in working with elephants. The Mahout instructs the elephant to lie on its side, making certain the elephant’s back is the only part of the body that volunteers can wash.

It has been three days since I last washed Pooja and my arms are still aching. Elephants have a whole lot of mass that need to be cleaned. While many zoos and other less-primitive elephant orphanages have access to wire brushes to clean an elephant, Mahouts at MEF prefer to clean their elephants with coconuts. Yes…coconuts.

A Mahout will cut a coconut in half and then shave the edges to make an angled brush. Mahouts strictly instruct volunteers, with broken English, to hold the shell firmly with four fingers on top with the thumb on the bottom. Then, one can begin the long process of scrubbing the elephant’s body clean.

A Mahout instructing volunteers on proper washing techniques

Although the process is long, tedious and requires a great deal of physical effort, bathing an elephant is quite therapeutic. The elephant is in a Zen-like state when in the water. When Pooja is being washed, she  closes her eyes, lets out little sighs and moves her trunk up to touch our hands, almost as a way to thank us for washing her.

Once the Mahout approves of your wash, it is time for vet checks. Vet checks are when volunteers, with the supervision of the Mahout, will check the elephant’s feet for injury or infection. Vet checks also include the presentation of the daily vitamin ball. Just like a child hates taking their vitamins; volunteers disguise the elephant’s pills in a ball of sweet dough, distracting the elephant from what they are actually eating. 

A vitamin ball that was spit out...not up to the elephant's standard

After vet checks, volunteers spend the afternoon working on various projects for MEF. Projects in the works this week are repairing the garden on site and reorganizing the museum at MEF. 

Volunteers planning enrichment games

As the sweltering heat starts to dwindle in the afternoons, volunteers, workers and even the elephants start to get anxious. Afternoons mean one thing: enrichment. Enrichment is the time where elephants are allowed free time to play games. Volunteers plan creative games like hiding bags of bananas or elephant grass for the animals to find, and then enjoy. 

Elephant grass in a bag with holes for the elephant's to find

Elephants can also practice their balancing skills on the agility course. Enrichment is a time for the elephants to socialize together as well, or a time for Pooja and Lakshmi to have a little cuddle. 

When enrichment ends, Mahouts lead their elephants back to their clean beds for the rest of night. Volunteers say goodnight to their elephant and end the day with a group meeting, expressing their favorite moments of the day.