Mae Khian

History: Mae Khian was born in 1987 in Thongmixay district. Her mahout believes that she is half wild and half captive since her captive mother mated with a wild male in the forest near her village. She had two calves. One of them was sold to a tourist camp in Japan and the other one died at an early age from a snake bite. She worked in logging for most of her life and she has been with her mahout since she was five years old. Mae Khian is a real member of his human family and they plan on staying together throughout her life. In 2015, Mae Khian and her mahout were part of the Elephant Caravan. The Caravan was “a living and direct message” about the urgent need for conservation of this endangered species. She walked from Paklay to Luang Prabang, together with 11 other elephants in order to spread the message. After the Caravan, her mahout wanted to offer a better life for his elephants, so he brought her to the ECC. Since then, Mae Khian has fully integrated into a herd and she is part of the ECC breeding program.