Important News From BLES

July 29, 2019

This is an official and truthful statement regarding the tragic event that took place here at Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary – BLES, on the 15th February 2019, involving BLES co founder Anon Phimmuean and one of our male elephants, Mee Chok.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who have continued to reach out and check in on how my family are I have been coping. There are no words that sufficiently describe the grief, that comes and goes, continuously, unexpectedly and staggeringly. Personally, I have never known such an infinite sense of emptiness. I have never felt this endless confusion and I have never cried so many tears, as I have these past six months. Knowing that thousands of you around the world have held us in your hearts and prayers, has helped ease our heartache. Grief can be an incredibly lonely journey, but I have truly felt the support, coming from all of you, our friends and family around the world, across the miles and for that I will always be thankful.

On the morning of the 16th February 2019, Anon’s lifeless body was found inside Mee Chok’s night time habitat area.  After speaking with friend’s of Anon, it was concluded that Anon, who was notably drunk, entered Mee Chok’s enclosure in the dark, without a torch, on his own – which is against BLES protocol. It is believed he entered the enclosure at around 8pm on the night of the 15th February 2019.

What took place next, nobody will ever know….

I personally examined Anon’s body as well as a professional forensic team. There were no wounds or gorge marks on his body, but it was clear that several bones were broken.

Newspaper reports claimed Mee Chok gorged Anon. This is not true. Various articles also quoted me, when I refused (and still refuse) to give any interviews about this particular subject.

It is believed that Mee Chok may have shoved Anon, after being startled by him, causing Anon to fall. We believe that Mee Chok, in the darkness and in his probable confusion, proceeded to kick Anon, resulting in his death.

These past months have been some of the hardest we have faced as a facility and as a family. I have had to lead my children, staff and community, through their mourning and at the same time maintain our business. I have had to ensure the care of all our rescued animals has remained consistent, host guests, keep on top of e mails, answer questions – when all I have truthfully wanted to do is scream in to my pillow and hide from the world.

Mee Chok and his level of care, has since the passing of Anon, proved a challenge. Anon was a gifted mahout. He was recognised throughout Thailand as being one of the best mahouts of our lifetime and his speciality was bulls. Up until the day of Anon’s death, Mee Chok was walked through our property and released to graze in the forest. He would be supervised by Anon and an assistant and then returned to his night time habitat area in the evenings, where he would have supplementary food thrown in to the enclosure for him to feed on throughout the night.

Anon really was the only one that Mee Chok felt able to trust. He responded to Anon positively, but would display signs of aggression if anyone else approached him.
So, without Anon being here, we have been left with a very tough predicament.

BLES takes the safety of everyone very seriously – human and elephant alike. Mee Chok has always been a fierce bull and now with no Anon to give Mee Chok his freedom, plus the reputation Mee Chok now has as a ‘man killing bull’, it has proved impossible to find a mahout who will take on Mee Chok and manage him appropriately.

It is a complicated situation and these past months have been some of the most trying for all of us, including Mee Chok. After months of discussions, evaluations, meetings and sleepless nights, it was decided that it would be in Mee Chok’s best interest, to be relocated from BLES.

Mee Chok has now been moved to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre – TECC. The TECC is a large, government run facility that has some of the most experienced mahouts in Thailand. They also have a state of the art hospital and several adult bull elephants, that Mee Chok will be able to interact with and we all agree this will be beneficial to Mee Chok’s well being. The TECC is highly knowledgable when it comes to handing difficult bulls or bulls with a reputation…. bulls just like Mee Chok.

I believe that if Mee Chok had stayed here at BLES, he would never have been able to shake off the label of, ‘The elephant that killed Anon’. At TECC, Mee Chok will get a fresh start.

I have never said that BLES is the best place for elephants. Other people often say this about us and as lovely as that is to hear, it simply isn’t the case. BLES is a small piece of a very complex and intricate puzzle. Managing elephants in captivity is a hard and dangerous job and BLES simply does the best that we can for the beings in our care. You will never hear me berate another facility, because at the end of the day, I live the reality and know how hard this industry is.

I am happy and proud that we could give Mee Chok a safe home and allow him to grow up within a family, protected and guided by our matriarch Pang Tong and patriarch, Somai. I am however, devastated that as a facility, we are no longer able to give Mee Chok the life he needs.  I am confident he will get this at TECC.  I am also pleased that we have been able to do right by thirty other elephants and know that we will learn from this and grow as a facility.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the content of this blog, please contact me directly at katherine@blesele.org.

Trunks of thanks for your continued support,
Katherine and the entire BLES Family xx