Living in the land of smiles

I am having the adventure of a lifetime: living in rural Thailand, walking with elephants, immersed in culture, overcome with challenges, drenched with inspiration and exploding with passion... this marks my journey.

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Nong Lek, Neua Tong and Wong Duen found a magnificent mud pit! #thesurinproject #elephants #mudpit #splashing #playing #happyelephants #volunteerproject #volunteer #makeadifference #animals #animalwelfare #animalbehaviour #saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant huddle; three beautiful bums, three best friends! #thesurinproject #elephants #bestfriends #elefriends #bums #WongDuen #nonglek #NeuaTong

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 11 Female elephants mature at about 11 years of age and stay with their family herds for life. An elephant herd is considered one of the most close-knit societies of any animal, and a female will only leave it if she dies or is captured by humans. The elephant herd is led by the oldest and largest female cow known as the matriarch. The rest of the herd is usually made up of the matriarch’s daughters and their calves. The matriarch influences the herd and they rely on her wisdom to make the major decisions as to their course of action in a crisis and for the survival of the members of their herd. She teaches the herd and passes on her knowledge of migration routes, how to source food and water, how to intimidate and act in dangerous situations and ultimately how to live. www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant camouflage - where is Nong Nun? #thesurinproject #elephants #nature #volunteerproject #volunteer #forest #hiding #camouflage

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 10 Elephants can recognize over 200 different species of plants. These include grasses, phorbs, fruits, bark, leaves, twigs and roots. Due to the elephant's large size and inefficient digestive system they need to eat between 5-10% of their body weight every day to stay healthy. For larger elephants that could be a whopping 300-400kg of food in one day! Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 9 Elephants ingest plants and fruits, walk for miles, and excrete the seeds in fertile dung piles. In this way they are spreading the seeds and new plants can grow in different areas. In fact 90 different tree species in Africa rely on African elephants for propagation. Asian elephants are known as the natural gardeners of the forest, and African bush elephants are known as the architects of the Savannah. Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 8 Elephants are hind-gut fermenters which means they have a very simple digestive system in which cellulose is digested with the aid of symbiotic bacteria. In the digestive system not much absorption of the nutrients takes place. Elephants actually only digest 40% of what they eat.This is a very inefficient digestive system which means that elephants must eat large quantities of food to retain and absorb the necessary nutrients for good health. Elephants defecate as many as 15-20 times daily and every time they produce between 5-8 balls of poo with a weight of about 1-2.5 kg. Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 7 Male African elephants are the largest living terrestrial animals; they can reach a height of 4 metres (13 feet) and can weigh up to as much as 7000kg (15400 pounds). Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 6 Elephants have two types of teeth, molars and incisors. The molars , for Asian elephants, have a series of parallel ridges (African elephants teeth are a series of diamond shapes). Elephants produce six sets of molar teeth throughout their lifetime. These teeth grow in from the back of the jaw, they glue together to form one large tooth and the old teeth simply snap off and are usually swallowed by the elephant. After the last set of teeth has been ground down and worn away, the elephant is unable to feed itself, cannot get any nutrition and this is the largest cause of natural death in the wild. They are usually found close to watering holes, thought to be trying to get something into their bodies. Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 5 There are many differences between Asian and African elephants. Each species of elephant are members of the same taxonomical family, elephantidae, but have evolved in differing ways; elephas maximus (Asian elephants, Loxodonta africana (African savanna elephants) and Loxodonta cyclotis (African Forest Elephant). Each elephant foot has 5 toes, but not every toe has a nail. The African forest elephant and the Asian elephant both have 5 toenails on the front feet and 4 on the back feet. The larger African bush elephant has 4 on the front feet and 3 on the back. Elephants actually walk around on their tiptoes! Their toe bones are aligned vertically and underneath is a large pad of fatty cartilage, known as the 'digital cushion'. This 'digital cushion' acts as a natural shock absorber and allows the elephant to walk very silently. Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 4 An elephant’s trunk contains only muscles and there are over 40,000 of them; no bones at all! There are 6 different muscle groups that help the elephant to move the trunk in many varied directions, which grant acrobatic maneuverability. They can move the trunk to the left, right, upwards, downwards, all around and even expand and contract the size of their nasal cavities (nostrils), which helps to suck, hold and spray water. They are so clever that they even shake their food, hit it off their bodies and slap it on the ground to try and get rid of any ants or insects that may be hiding in it. This is not just because they are big vegetarians, but also because ants and small insects can climb up the inside of their nostrils, which can be itchy and irritating. Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 3 Scientists believe that there are three species of elephant living today: African Bush or Savannah elephant (Loxodonta Africana), African Forest elephant (Loxodonta Cyclotis) and Asian elephant (Elephas Maximus). (Nmubers 3, 5 and 6 in the photo below are the only living species of elephant thought to be alive today, all of the others are thought to be extinct) Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 2 Asian and African elephants have very distinct head shapes. African elephants have fuller, more rounded heads, and the top of their head is a single dome. Asian elephants have a twin domed head with an indent in the middle. Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! (Shown in photo is an Asian elephant: Wong Duen) www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ ‪#‎thesurinproject‬ ‪#‎elephants‬ ‪#‎adventcalendar‬ ‪#‎facts‬ ‪#‎education‬‪#‎saveelephantfoundation

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During the whole of December we are hosting our very own Elephant Facts Advent Calendar. Our aim is to educate about different aspects of elephants both Asian and African and in the wild and in captivity; behaviour, threats, physical traits and more! We want to educate as many people as we can and help to raise the status for elephants everywhere. Let's blow people's minds and show them just how amazing elephants really are. We are kicking off our Elephant Facts Advent Calendar today with our first installment: Elephant Fact Advent Calendar - 1 Asian elephants have 1 finger like protrusion at the end of their trunks, whereas African elephants have 2. The elephant trunk is so tactile that they can even pick up the smallest blade of grass! The trunk is used for manipulating, lifting, breathing, vocalizing, social disciplining, determining directions, and delivering odorants to the main olfactory system and the vomeronasal (sensory) organ. (Photo shown is an Asian elephant trunk) Please like, share and help to spread some joy for elephants this festive season! www.saveelephant.org/surin-project/ #thesurinproject #elephants #adventcalendar #facts #education#saveelephantfoundation #raiseawareness

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These two just can't get enough of each other! They are always together; eating side by side in the forest, splashing and climbing on each other in the water, squeaking and trumpeting, touching trunks and they share a shelter together too! Neua Tong and Nong Lek are our troublesome twosome! #thesurinproject #elephants #bestfriends #elefriends #bff #volunteerproject #volunteer #observing #animalbehaviour

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Do you want to make history?

Be inspired to do something great; make a difference for all species, for the environment, for the world that we live on. 

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“By changing nothing, nothing changes.”

Tony Robbins