Saturday November 11, 2006

Mek Bunga calls it quits

By LISA GOH Newsdesk@thestar.com.my

TEMERLOH: After 33 years of service to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, it's finally time for Thai elephant Mek Bunga to retire. Mek Bunga, 68, who has gone blind in both eyessince almost two months ago, is in need of a proper shelter to protect her from the environmental elements.

Conservation centre volunteer Mohd Razali Mohd Noor said Mek Bunga arrived at the centre in the 1970s from Thailand, and has been serving the centre since. “She has helped us save and transport about 400 wild elephants from conflict areas to the national park in the 30 odd years she has been here,” he said.

Mek Bunga at her present enclosure at the Elephant Conservation Centre in Pahang.

Mohd Razali explained that it is no easy feat to move and transport wild elephants due to their sheer bulk, and that was when Mek Bunga, and her contemporary Che Mek, also in her sixties, come in. “After identifying the elephant we need to move, we will drug it.

Then Mek Bunga and Che Mek will flank the elephant and through their brute strength would pull the wild elephant onto a waiting truck.

“Without their assistance, it would be impossible to move and relocate the wild elephants,” he said. However, Mek Bunga, whom he calls the Grand Old Lady, has now retired and deserves a proper “retirement home.”

Mohd Razali said that Mek Bunga went blind due to old age, but she could still respond to her mahouts through voice recognition.

“We feel after all she has done to help her wilder cousins, she deserves a concrete shelter with a proper drainage system, and a high roof for ventilation.

“We would like to appeal to construction companies to provide us with their expertise and material to build her a shelter,” he said.

Those interested can contact the conservation centre head Nasharuddin Othman at Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, Lanchang, 20500, Temerloh, Pahang.