The Elephants of Maesa Elephant Camp

As we were driving up to the elephant camp, I searched back through my memory banks of what my preconceived notions were about elephants. Some of those emanated from a lack of knowledge, and others can just be attributed to stereotyping. Being around them completely changed all of that for me.

These are some of the most interesting, intelligent and sweetest creatures God put on this earth. This is a picture of Duanpen. She was a matriarchal elephant in the group. Look at her sweet eyes, cheerful demeanor, and happy little smile!



Elephants rank high in the world’s most intelligent species. They have behaviors that are not typical in animals such as grief, mimicry, sense of humor, art, memory, and language skills. The skill I saw demonstrated at the camp was art. Yes, elephants do paint! This is a picture of Wanpen painting. He was right in front of us, and had I not seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it.



Elephants are a highly social animal. They love playing together and being part of a community. The mahouts (elephant caretakers) ride the elephants down to the river and they bathe them. The elephants seemed to really enjoy being scrubbed and would lay right down in the river. It was amazing being so close to these massive animals and to see how they live.



They are closest to human in terms of learning. Humans are born with 28% of the adult weight of their brain. This means that the other 72% will grow with them over time. Elephants are born with 35%, the closest percentage to humans across all the of the known species on the planet. Most animals are born with 90% of the adult weight of their brain. This means that those animals born with 90% of their brain mass are born with instinct and little ability to learn. This indicates that elephants have the highest amount of learning to undergo next to humans and behavior is not mere instinct but must be taught throughout life.


These certainly were amazing animals!


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