Suriya

History: Suriya was born in Ban Vieng Keo, Hongsa, and arrived at the ECC when he was just one month old, alongside his mother, Mae Ven. At the age of three, he earned the name “Suriya,” meaning “sun ray,” chosen by selecting a piece of sugarcane marked with the name from three options. Suriya was also the first captive elephant in Laos to be trained using the positive reinforcement technique. While he’s still learning with his mahouts and can sometimes be a bit cheeky, he was also the first calf to be integrated into the ECC’s herding area. Growing up in a natural herd environment, he now has the care of several female elephants who act as his “aunties,” along with his mother, Mae Ven. As he matures, Suriya will begin spending more time with other males who can teach him essential male-specific behaviours, which are crucial for his development as a bull elephant.

Distinguishing features: Small tusks, athletic body, grey skin with no freckles.

Personality traits: Suriya loves playing with the two other juveniles Do Khoun Meuang and Noy. He is very curious, social and fearless.

Paternity: Not yet!

  • Gender: Male
  • Year of birth: November 2011
  • Arrived at the ECC: December 2011
  • Weight (2019): 1200 kg
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Close-up of the elephant in the Elephant Conservation Center, Sayaboury, Laos, in December 2018. Laos was known as ‘The land of a million elephants’ in the past, today the elephant population in the country stands at around 800 individuals. Half of them is made up of captive elephants, and their number is in decline; the owners are not interested in breeding animals (the cow needs at least four years out of work during her pregnancy and lactation), illegal trafficking to China and other neighboring countries continues. Against this backdrop, the Elephant Conservation Center is the only one organization in Laos who is interested in maintaining the population and breeding of elephants. They have the only elephant hospital and research laboratory in Laos. The Center was created in 2011, and now the team is protecting 29 elephants that had been working in the logging industry or mass tourism, and 530 hectares of forest around Nam Tien Lake in Sayaboury. ‘If we have extra money, we buy an elephant,’ says Anthony, the manager. The primary goal of the Center, besides conservation and breeding, is to reintroduce socially coherent groups of healthy elephants to a natural forest where they can contribute to the increase of the wild population. For this reason, a special socialization programme has been developed by the biologists, where domesticated elephants learn to communicate and survive in the wild under the supervision of specialists. ‘There are not enough elephants in Laos,’ says Chrisantha, the biologist of the center. ‘We need around 5000 of a species to sustain a population, and we are nowhere near that. The efforts we are making now at least give a bit of hope for the future.’ (Photo by Oleksandr Rupeta)