Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary

Last April, I have had the privilege to visit Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary and work with Mr. Zali. I booked a visit there, expecting some once in a lifetime encounter with elephants, but little did I know that I would fall in love with these gentle (sometimes naughty haha. I swear, Mr. Zali's story of escape artist adult elephants SWIMMING from Malaysia to Singapore cracked me up) giants! I also didn't know that the majority of the fees I paid were to feed milk and palm sugar to the baby elephants. The rest of the fees went to our lunch and to the car rental service to get there from KL. My goal for this campaign is to raise funds to help supply the babies' milk and palm sugar for at least a few months.

A little about the ellies

Meeting Mr. Zali and the elephants changed my life in drastic ways, especially Elly. Elly is an orphaned three-year-old elephant who lost one of her legs after being caught in a snare. She's little, but has a BIG personality. If you met her, I'm sure you'll love her too. This photo right here is sent by Mr. Zali one month after my visit to the sanctuary. She's just doing her own thing, rocking that prosthetic leg!

But then, a few months later, she's already outgrown that leg! Here's Elly with her new bigger, sturdier prosthetic leg, being naughty with the water haha.

Aside from Elly, I've also met two-year-old Tang. Tang is a sweetheart, and I don't say that about a lot of two-year-olds! I had the privilege to help bottle-feed him that day, and he was just nice and calm compared to Elly and her sassiness (threenagers, am I right?).

The milk and sugar are mostly for the likes of Tang and Elly, but let me also share the experience of meeting and interacting with the not-so-little ones. Lepar is the one in my profile picture with me. She's all about the sugar cane! Lanchang is a bouncing little boy, and Dara is the prime definition of gentle giant. She's in love with Mr. Zali, no questions asked. If you feel like reading more about my visit, click this link.

But nothing would be possible without Mr. Zali

From the time I was planning our Malaysia trip to this very day, I can attest to Mr. Zali's excellence when it comes to the elephants. During my planning stage, I was looking at online reviews and they all pointed to one person: Mr. Zali the elephant whisperer. His love for the elephants is evident the moment you speak with him, and you just can't help but feel what he's feeling when you're there in the sanctuary, cutting crate after crate of fruit in the heat, being inside the habitats to clean while keeping one eye on the elephant, shoving poop, and watching Elly limp. It's all heartbreaking and heartwarming.

TL;DR

I started this campaign to ensure that the little elephants get their milk and sugar. While the sanctuary receives funding from the Malaysian government, a little help couldn't hurt!

For regular updates on the offline donations, click here.