At the Chiang-Dao Elephant Training Center, our elephant training session begins at 10 a.m. Elephants bathing and elephants working, etc, lasts approximately 45 minutes.
Purpose of skills training are as follows:
- To trained baby elephants to work without their mothers in the immediate vicinity.
- To familiarise baby elephants with basics in mahout handling.
- To train baby elephants to accept mahouts on their backs.
- To make sure that mahouts are training and care for baby elephants in the proper manner.
- To ensure baby elephants are trained to be aware of dangers in the forest such as poisonous snakes, storms, thunder, lightning and to keep them in safe areas.
- To that baby elephants are check up for any signs of illness.
- To train baby elephants for their work and establish disciplines.
- To make sure that baby elephants are well trained and grow up to good elephants.
Process and positions for which elephants are trained:
- How to walk in straight line follwing other elephants.
- How to walk in pairs with other elephants.
- How to stand in a line with other elephants.
- How to kneel down.
- How to pull a log of wood alone (when logs are not excessive in weight).
- How to pull a log in pair with another elephant (when logs are excessive in weight).
- How to pull a log with another elephant in a line (in case the logs are excessive in weight but the path too narrow for the pair to walk side by side).
- How to pull and push a log with one elephant pulling from the front and one pushing from behind (in case logging is needed in mountainous areas so that logs don't flip or fall down the mountain).
- How to walk backwards pushing back a log.
- How to use their tusks in move logs.
- How to put the logs in order with their trunks, once assembled.
- How to use their tusks to lift and align logs.
- How to kneel down for ease of mahout mounting and dismounting.
- How to lift front and left legs for ease of mahout mounting and dismounting.
- How to lift various legs in order to avoid dangers such as nails, jagged rocks, broken glass or in order to administer medical treatments.
- How to open thier mounts for medical inspections.
- How to collect and put away items such as mahouts' hats.
- How to paint.
