THE ELEPHANTS and THE MAHOUTS

The mahouts are interesting people. They take pride in their job and always put their elephant in the first place. For them it is more important that the elephants are fed than themselves. Normally the Mahouts handle one elephant each, but they are also able to handle each others elephants. The Mahouts are all members of the Tangkahan Conservation Response Unit (CRU).

If you join the Elephant Jungle Patrol you will get to know several of them. Some of them have been mahouts for many years, for example Cece, Budiman, Sudiono, Kliwon, Suparman, Abdullah, and Katio.

They have worked with elephants as long as 13 to 22 years. They are themselves between 32 and 42 years old. The jobs as mahouts have given them many experiences.

Some of them have trained with mahouts from Thailand and some have even been to Australia. Their backgrounds are all very different. Abdullah for example, he was once a truck driver. When he transported some elephants he got so fascinated that he quit and joined the elephants instead.

There are also a few new and very young mahouts. They have been recruited locally in Tangkahan, for example Feri, Joni, and Suherman. They are between 17 and 19 years old and still learning, but already very skilled at their jobs according to the older mahouts.

Elephants are in several ways similar to humans. They even have the same age spectrum. In Tangkahan are seven elephants. Remember who they are, they will remember you. Elephants have very good memory!

 

Agustin is the natural leader of the group. All the other elephants like her. She is 29 years old and comes from Ulee Glee in northeastern Aceh. Ardana is a 32 years old female from east Aceh. She doesn’t like dogs. Eva is a 35 years old, also from east Aceh. Sari is a 36 years old female. Like Agustin she is also from Ulee Glee in northeastern Aceh. Yuni is only a 16 years old, but can already carry people on her back. She comes from the Bukit Lawang area. Olive is only 8 years old. She is still a kid and far too young to carry people on her back. She comes from the area near Bukit Lawang. Theo is the only male. He is 18 years old and still a naughty teenager. Within a few years he will take command over the group. Like Olive and Yuni he comes from the Bukit Lawang area.