Elephant in the Room

It has been an action packed day here around Chiang Mai... After researching a bit about the exploitation of the animals at most of the typical tourist "elephant activities" here in Thailand and, acting on a recommendation from my fellow traveler friend Rory (an Aussie girl I meet while traveling in Italy), I chose to visit the conservation-minded ELEPHANT NATURE PARK in the beautiful Mae Taeng Valley an hour north from the city.  Along with a small group of visitors, my day was spent learning about, feeding, bathing, and photographing the magnificent Asian Elephant!  Here are some images captured from the day:

Some random Asian Elephant Facts:

• Asian Elephants have a gestation period of 22 months.
• Babies nurse for up to 3 years.
• A full grown Asian Elephant adult weighs between 3-4 tons.
• Only the males have tusks.
• Trunks can hold up to two gallons of water.
• Asian Elephants have a fingerlike feature on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items (African elephants have two).
• They eat 10% of their body weight per day on a strictly vegetarian diet.
• Only sleep 4 hours per night.
• Asian Elephants can live to ages of between 80-100 years.
• Intelligence comparable to that of dolphins and whales.