Elephant Who Used To Beg On The Streets Gives Birth To A Baby Girl
An elephant who was once forced to beg and perform on the streets of Thailand has just given birth to a baby girl.
Born on Tuesday, the little girl was named Dok Rak, which means "the flower of love." And she will thankfully never know the suffering her mom endured.
Dok Ngern now calls Elephant Nature Park (ENP) - a sanctuary for elephants like her - home. But her past is riddled with pain. When rescuers found her at an elephant festival, she was "bleeding and looked very sad." ENP writes that the "scars on her forehead are evidence of physical abuse ... [and] signs of deeper emotional and psychological scarring."
Since coming to ENP in 2005, Dok Ngern has made friends and learned to trust again. The elephant who used to beg on the streets totally transformed.
And now Dok Rak has arrived to join her - and her many friends. "She was born in the company of all of her future nannies in the shelter," Lek Chailert, founder of ENP, wrote on Facebook. "Now Sri Nuan is selected by Don Ngern to be number one nanny of the little girl."
Mae Sri Nuan, the new head nanny for the little girl, also came from a life in chains. She is half blind from an old injury. Still, Dok Ngern trusts her to help raise Dok Rak.
This happy event comes just after sadness struck ENP, when an old elephant, Mae Perm, passed away of natural causes.
The new bundle of joy is lifting everyone's spirits - elephant and human.
Watch Chailert sing Dok Rak her first lullaby below: