The Elephants in Yok Don Forest

The project was commissioned by Animals Asia Vietnam and is part of a campaign to protect and "retire" elephants in the national forest after years of tourism service. I spent a week in Yok Don, central Vietnam, to collect research materials, so that later on I could create a collection of watercolor paintings in my studio. Spending time with the Elephants and the mahouts who take care of them every day, and walking in the vast dry deciduous dipterocarp forest of Yok Don is an experience that I will never forget.

Ethnic minorities in the region have a long history of training and caring for elephants. And Yok Don National Park's elephants used to be involved in elephant riding tourism, but now their welfare comes first - in the national park, you will see the behavior of elephants in their natural habitat.

Yok Don's guide will tell you all about the elephants' personalities, their histories, and why they come to live in Yok Don.

Elephants are highly social animals. They like to play with their friends, swim, and eat bamboo leaves. They sleep very little because they spend most of their time eating. And when they sleep, they may lean against a large termite nest to get up easily.

The mahouts in Yok Don National Park told me that when living in the forest, elephants can find rich food sources and medicinal herbs to treat themselves when they are sick. One of those is the turmeric flower. Elephants like to eat flowers and turmeric roots to get more vitamins.

During the walk, the guide will tell you about the national park, show you many species of trees and wild animals living in the forest, and introduce you to medicinal plants used by local people. I was shown some typical birds and tasted some edible forest leaves.

You can even see traces of wild elephants living in Yok Don, such as elephant footprints, foraging tracks, or wild elephant dung.

Elephants belong to the forest. As a nature lover and especially fond of seeing animals in their natural environment, I hope more people will know about and visit the lovely elephants, as well as explore Yok Don National Forest, the largest dipterocarp forest in Vietnam. More information can be found here: https://tour.yokdonnationalpark.vn/