All language subtitles for When.Elephants.Were.Young.2016.1080p.BluRay.H264.AAC-RARBG.Eng

♪ It feels so warm.

Lying in your mother's arms.

Nothing can hurt you.

You're free from harm when

Y0U're young ♪

>> Narrator: It all begins when

she is born in the forest.

Her family are the largest

animals still walking upon

the earth.

But their world has changed.

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>> Narrator: In Thailand, maybe

a hundred years ago,

must have been over a 100 --

200,000 elephants, at least.

Right now, there are only

2,800-something captive

elephants.

And maybe just a 1,200 wild

elephants.

So all together, we're talking

about 4,000.

>> Narrator: This newborn baby

and her mother are known

as Elephas Maximus or

the Asian elephant.

They once roamed freely

through these forests as

caretakers of the ecosystem.

But 95% of the forest they used

to call home is now gone.

And with fewer than 45,000 Asian

elephants remaining in the

world, they are classified as an

endangered species.

>> Narrator: Over 300 captive

elephants live in Surin province

in northeastern Thailand.

Only 5O years ago, this area was

mostly forest with plenty of

wild elephants.

It is now one of Thailand's most

productive rice growing regions

and there is little natural

forest left.

The last wild elephant was

captured here over 5O years ago.

>> Narrator: 35 captive

elephants now live in

this village.

>> Narrator: It is a

community that has preserved

it's traditions of keeping

elephants.

Even though the world has

changed around them.

>> Narrator: Grandfather was

once a wild elephant catcher.

Now, too old to work, he relies

on his grandchildren to take

care of the family elephant.

Nong Mai is the family elephant.

>> Grandpa and his

granddaughter, Duen,

bought Nong Mai

when she was just 3 years old.

They bought her to work in the

street begging business run by

Uncle Saweang.

For the past three years, the

family has entrusted Nong Mai to

the care of grandson Wok.

Wok is 26 years old, and Nong

Mai is his first elephant.

>> Narrator: For centuries,

elephants have always been a

familiar part of village life.

>> Narrator: The traditions

of elephant care are handed

down from one generation

to another.

>> Narrator: Most of the

elephants here work in

tourist camps.

But for Wok and his family,

street begging with their

elephant is the family business.

>> Narrator: Wok's family

is from an ethnic group

known as Guay.

The Guay people have lived in

Surin province near the border

with Cambodia for many

centuries.

They were famous as wild

elephant catchers, and the men

who hunted elephants were

honoured.

It was a dangerous way of life

filled with secret rituals and

mysterious beliefs.

The Guay would train their

captives and sell them as beasts

of burden for use in logging and

transportation.

Eventually, there were no more

wild elephants left to catch.

A ban on logging in 1989 and

left over 2,000 captive

elephants and their human

families out of work.

Tourism was the only legal work

left for the once proud

elephant catchers.

>> Narrator: For thousands

of years,

elephants have played a

central role in Asian culture,

and nowhere more than Thailand.

The use of elephants in

transportation and logging once

helped to build the

natio♪s economy.

They were Thailand's equivalent

of heavy machinery and they were

used in warfare to defend the

natio♪s freedom and conquer

it's enemies.

>> Narrator: Elephants are the

number of one attraction

in the tourism industry.

A business that brings

$40 billion into Thailand

every year.

The annual festival in Surin

is the place where people

buy and sell elephants

and elephant parts like

skin, bones, and ivory.

>> Under the transport act,

the owner of an elephant is

allowed to dispose the carcass

or any parts of the elephant

after it dies or even some

parts when it's still alive

anyway they like.

It's not illegal to sell the

tusks from a domestic elephant.

Well, how can you tell the

difference between ivory from

a domestic elephant and ivory

from a wild elephant?

Of course, it's impossible.

>> Narrator: Selling ivory from

these domestic elephants is

currently allowed.

But the trade is so poorly

regulated that it has been

exploited as a front to sell

smuggled tusks of African

elephants.

Enabled by a legal loophole,

Thailand is one of the biggest

markets servicing the global

ivory trade.

The loophole threatens not only

Asian elephants in Thailand but

all elephants worldwide.

>> Narrator: The elephant's

popularity is also

their misfortunate.

The growing demand for elephants

in Thailand's tourism

industry is supplied by an

elephant population that

is now endangered.

>> Narrator: Wok is a mahout

which is the name for someone

who looks after elephants.

Being a mahout was once a

respected job.

But the traditional ways of

elephant keeping are changing.

It's against the law to street

beg with elephants.

So hiding an elephant in the

city is Wok's solution.

>> Narrator: A good hideaway

lowers the risk of

getting arrested and increases

the chances of making money.

>> Narrator: Elephants spend

most of the day eating.

To stay healthy, Nong Mai has to

eat over 5% of her body

weight per day-

The day-to-day chores of

elephant keeping builds

a relationship.

A relationship that could last

a lifetime.

>> Whether you believe or not

that they should be in

captivity, they are in

captivity.

And it's a relationship that

goes back at least 4,000 years,

and my own feeling is --

surmised, unscientific -- is

that I think it probably goes

back to the paleolithic.

So political correctness says,

No, they should not be kept in

captivity.

But we have this relationship

with them that goes back a

millennia and it's fascinating.

And, you know, why and how did

this relationship happen?

>> Narrator: It's been said that

Buddha was born as an elephant

in a previous life.

>> Narrator: Buddha's believe

the qualities of the elephant

-- their empathy, patience,

and strength -- are essential

attributes to follow on

the path to enlightenment.

>> Every Thai man is expected

to be ordained as a Buddhist

monk for three months during

his lifetime.

>> Before they're ordained to

go through this three months

process, they make these

charming but gawdy costumes,

you know, with kinda

really cheap cloth and coloured

paper and gold foil crowns.

They are meant to be like the

Buddha himself who was a prince.

He was due to be a king, and he

gave it all up to meditate.

So they dress the boys up like

him, so when they ride to be

ordained, they have to be on the

back of an elephant.

In some villages in the old

days, if you did♪t have an

elephant you'd use a horse.

If you did♪t have a horse,

you'd ride on the shoulders of a

friend to be ordained as a monk.

So the elephants play a really

simple role.

It's a lovely image,

and it's fun to be there.

It's nice to see, but there's no

way you can support a family on

these events.

>> When you talk to the

Guay, Why are you bringing this

elephant into the city?

Do♪t you know it's horrible?

Do♪t you know it's wrong?

And often they will be,

Yeah, sure.

We know that.

But at home there is no work for

the men and there's no food or

water for the elephants,

so, therefore, we're forced

to do this.

Street monitoring enabled them

to just work by themselves, to

not have a boss, and that's when

the street wandering into

Bangkok started.

>> Narrator: Wok took Nong Mai

when she was just 3 years old

to work in his Uncle's Saweang's

illegal elephant camp on the

outskirts of Bangkok.

♪ You want and you dream.

You smile and it seems.

The day's so long and clean

when you're young.

You laugh.

You scheme.

You chase down the

first moonbeam.

The nights too soon it seems

when you're young.

It feels so warm lying in your

mother's arms.

Nothing can hurt you.

You're free from harm when

You're young.

You fall asleep and hope you

wake a bit older and then

you'll know.

All that you did♪t know when

you were young.

But now your lost, lying in some

stranger's arms.

No one beside you.

No one to guide you from now on.

You're all alone.

Moved so far away from home.

You're out in the world.

Out on your own.

You're thinking, why does

everything hurt?

Do♪t want to admit.

You planned all of it.

Ithappenedlong

before you knew it.

You ca♪t rewind.

You've run out of time.

You wake up and you're old.

Your life behind you.

Your story told.

Your memories unfold to when

you were young.

To the beach.

The fair.

The sunshine's in sweeter air.

Nothing can compare to when

You're young.

When you were -- when you were

-- when you were young ♪

>> Narrator: Elephants spend

nearly two years in the womb.

The longest pregnancy of

any animal.

This long gestation means that

they can walk just after birth

and immediately begin to sense

the world around them.

Most Asian elephants can live

over 7O years.

But like all wild elephants,

her destiny is now challenged.

Instead of living peacefully

with her mother, she could be

captured and taken from her

family to work for humans.

>> Traditionally, anywhere in

Asia, people prefer not to

breed elephants.

Not because it was impossible

because they breed quite easily.

The trouble with breeding

elephants is if you breed a

female you're gonna lose a lot

of productive work from her

during the late stages of

pregnancy and when she's

nursing the calf.

Whereas if you capture a wild

elephant then you can get the

elephant when it's seven or

eight years old.

So that's seven or eight years

of work that you do♪t have to

put into caring for that calf.

>> Narrator: Capturing wild

elephants from their rapidly

shrinking habitats has

accelerated the decline of the

wild elephant population.

The price of an elephant has

more than tripled over the

past 15 years.

Today, it costs over $30,000 to

buy one baby elephant.

Even though wild elephants

are protected by law in

Thailand, the weak enforcement

of regulations enables the

illegal capturing and

trading to continue.

Sometimes the mother elephants

are injured or killed while

trying to protect their calfs.

>> We've never had the situation

where the number of baby

elephants born in captivity has

been sufficient to meet the

demand for young and baby

elephants in the tourism sector.

So that has led to, you know,

illegal capture of elephants in

the wild in Thailand.

But as that has gotten more and

more difficult with better

protection, it's illegal

smuggling of elephants across

the borders from Laos and

from Myanmar.

You know, because what everybody

wants in the tourism industry is

a baby elephant to have around

their hotel because it's so cute

and the guests like it.

After they grow up, okay, then

maybe, you know, they do♪t want

them around the hotel anymore.

They ca♪t go into the logging

industry because it does♪t

exist anymore.

So that's when they go into this

street begging or other, you

know, travelling circuses and

things like that.

Well, owners do♪t need to work.

They can do just fine

not working.

But the fact is, in some senses,

it's a symbiotic relationship

and practically speaking in

Thailand, every elephant has

to take care of at least

one and maybe two extended

human families.

So money is needed.

>> We hear a lot, like,

say from animal right's people

saying, you know, If you go to

Thailand, do♪t go to an

elephant show, do♪t take an

elephant ride.

It's demeaning to the elephant.

It's dangerous to the elephant,

et cetera, et cetera.

What they do♪t realize is that

it's the only legal form of work

in Thailand.

>> Narrator: Under the Draft

Animal Act of 1939,

captive elephants have to be

registered when they are

8 years old.

This is a loophole that enables

young elephants caught from the

wild to be laundered into the

tourism industry with phony

registration papers.

>> Captive elephants, or so

called domestic elephants,

come under the jurisdiction of

the transport law as beasts

of burden.

And this is a law that dates

from the 1920s or 1930s and is

completely outdated.

The problem with this is it does

provide a number of loopholes,

so it's very easy to illegally

smuggle an elephant from a

neighbouring country or steal

one from the forest.

You've got several years to

train it.

You do♪t actually have to prove

where it was born.

You do♪t have to demonstrate

which elephants where

it's parents.

>> 90% of those animals

are privately owned.

Privately owned.

And this is, well,

it is officially an

endangered species.

It's an extremely bizarre

situation where you have this

big dangerous endangered species

in private homes.

>> Narrator: The human need to

expand has changed the landscape

of the illegal elephant camp.

Even Uncle Saweang's

street elephants have lost

their habitat.

Finding a new hideaway will

be a challenge.

Even if he wanted to return to

his home and take up farming,

Uncle Saweang cannot.

He had to mortgage the family's

land to buy his own elephants.

And to make ends meet, he has

rented elephants from other

owners to increase his revenue.

Because he is so deeply in debt

Uncle Saweang has little choice

but to keep going.

>> A lot of the elephants

that you find in the streets

of Bangkok now are essentially

rental elephants.

They're the Asian equivalent of

Hertz rent an elephant.

Hey, if it's your own elephants

you're gonna be careful of it in

traffic, you're gonna make sure

that it gets natural foods, the

health of the elephant is gonna

be paramount to the dollars

that come in.

But that formula changes

somewhat if everybody is

around the elephant.

Everybody that's bringing that

elephant into Bangkok.

It's not my elephant.

They have to watch out

to some extent because

they're still going to be

responsible to that owner,

who is, you know,

often the equivalent of

charitably a big businessman

but less charitably often

a kind of a --

I would♪t say mafia but a,

you know, a local power lord.

>> Narrator: A street begging

elephant makes about

$200 per night.

This business makes a lot

of money.

>> Narrator: Whether it's for

love, or pity, or even

just curiosity, people will

always pay money to see the

elephants perform.

And the elephants have no choice

but to go along with the deal.

>> I mean the problem is,

you know, people right now

have a reverence and a love

for elephants.

It may not be expressed in the

right We)'-

I mean, this street begging,

for example, because people have

that reverence then they buy a

pineapple, they buy a banana too

-- to feed the elephant.

That's not helping in the long

term really.

>> They really know what

a job is.

If you set them to do something,

it could be as real and earnest

as dragging a I09 "

>> -- Or as trivial as making

a painting.

They know what a job is.

They know about the beginning of

a job, the end of a job.

So you end up with these

almost contractual relationships

with them.

>> The standard thought when you

think of domesticated elephants,

how did it ever happen?

And most people go, Gee, how did

man, such a puny little species,

tame this beast.

This -- you know, 10- 11-

12-foot tall at the shoulder.

>> Narrator: Many people believe

that to teach the elephants

to obey humans, requires

the breaking of the

animal's spirit.

This northern Thai ceremony,

known as the phajaan, is

performed when separating the

calf from it's mother.

It's believed that the ceremony

severs their bonds so that the

calf will accept dominance

from humans.

This tradition is not easily

understood.

No one likes to talk about it.

elephants have been subjected

to something similar.

>> Perhaps it's because

elephants do♪t forget.

That respect for this dominance

stays with them, usually, but

not always forever.

>> Remember, the males are just

stone killers and why not?

I would hope if I were in their

situation I would be that way.

I do♪t want to be kept

in chains.

Deep inside --

genetically, behaviorally --

they're a wild animal.

Pure and simple.

Therefore, they're exceedingly

dangerous.

If somebody captured you and put

a chain around your foot and

kept you in a room and

funneled food into you, and

there was any chance of your

getting back at your captor,

would you do so?

Certainly would.

That's why elephants

kill people.

They do♪t want to be

where they are.

>> A mahout's relationship

with his own elephant is

often a lifelong bond.

But throughout the years that

they live and work together,

does a mahout's ever really know

what his elephant is thinking?

Every elephant is different.

Working with someone else's

elephant can be very risky.

Such was the case with

Wok's cousin, Sawai,

the son of Uncle Saweang.

One day, he had to take care of

someone else's elephant.

It was an elephant who may have

wanted revenge.

>> People often refer to them as

domesticated elephants in which

they're not, you know.

Dogs and cats are domesticated

because we've selectively bred

them over generations and

generations for specific traits.

Nobody has ever selectively bred

elephants over generations and

generations so they are

essentially still wild elephants

in captivity.

>> Narrator: The elephant is

truly a super keystone species.

The living species that takes

care of the forest, and the

reason that Asia has these

lovely tropical forests is

because elephants worked on them

for 20 million years.

And that's why we've these lush,

you know, forests.

Well, we had.

Now, people have started to

outgrow most living things and

started to invade their spaces.

>> Why do♪t we just let them

all go back to the wild?

The scientist term for that is

reintroduction.

To introduce back into the

wilderness, and domesticated

elephants are superb candidates

to be rereleased back into

the wild.

And at that level, I mean,

if it was possible to do so

and there was a button on the

wall that said,

release all elephants,

I would do it in a moment.

Even though it would put me

out of a job.

>> Narrator: There is one

organization that is trying to

do just that.

The Elephant Reintroduction

Foundation of Thailand has been

reintroducing captive elephants

back to the

forest since 2002.

It is an unprecedented project

initiated by her Majesty Queen

Surikit of Thailand.

Not only to help protect the

natio♪s endangered elephants,

but also to help regenerate

the forests.

There have been over 90

elephants released here.

>> By bringing the captive

elephants back into the wild,

reintroducing them into

their natural habitat,

we are trying to help

preserve them from extinction.

Reintroducing them into the

natural habitat is only 50%

of our work.

The other 50% is to have them

successfully reproduce so that

the number of births equal at

least the number of elephant

deaths per year.

Only when that can be done, we

can say we are saving the

elephant from extinction.

>> Narrator: With fewer areas

to roam freely and the

impacts of poaching, the wild

elephant population could be

extinct in 30 years.

>> Narrator: Discouraged by the

hardships of the elephant

business, Wok takes Nong Mai

home with hopes of starting

a new life.

>> Narrator: it did♪t take

long for Wok to settle back

into the simple routines he

grew up with.

But keeping Nong Mai in the

village was just not that easy.

♪ I know I said the

right thing this time.

I've weighed it down a thousand

times in my mind.

Just want to be your good

love again.

I thought that you would be mine

until the end.

The end of my pain.

The end of the rain.

The end of the line once

every time.

The end of my day.

Hoped you would be the end of my

one again ♪

♪ And now, I want to

do the right thing in time.

I want to know how to make you

lovesick because I'm trying.

Just want to be your good

love again.

I hoped that would be mine

until the bitter end.

The end of my pain.

The end of the rain.

The end of line until it's time.

The end of my day.

I hoped you would be the end of

my wandering again.

The end of my wandering again.

>> Narrator: Life for Wok's

family was changing.

The chores of elephant keeping

were being replaced by new

opportunities in farming.

But for Nong Mai, farm life had

some problems.

>> Narrator: Wok decides he must

return to street begging with

Nong Mai to make some money.

It is customary for the Guay to

pray to the spirits before an

elephant and mahout leave home.

Grandmother makes an offering to

bless and hopefully protect Nong

Mai and Wok from harm.

♪ It does♪t hurt me.

Do you want to feel

how it feels?

You want to know,

know that it does♪t hurt me.

Do you want to hear about the

deal I'm making?

You.

You and me.

And if I only could,

make a deal with God,

I'd get him to swap our places.

Be running up that road,

be running up that hill,

be running up that building.

If I only could, oh.

You do♪t want to hurt me.

But see how deep the

bullet lies.

Unaware that I'm tearing

you asunder.

There's a thunder in our hearts,

baby.

So much hate for the

ones we love.

Tell me we both matter,

do♪t we?

You.

You and me.

You and me wo♪t be unhappy.

If I only could make

a deal with God,

I'd get him to swap

our places.

Be running up that road,

be running up that hill, be

running up that building.

Be running up that hill

if I could.

Be running up that hill

if I could.

Be running up that hill

if I could.

Be running up that hill

if I could ♪

>> Narrator: Nong Mail has no

way of know that she is not

returning to the city.

An usual buyer has

made an offer that will change

Nong Mai's fate forever.

She will never have to ride in a

truck again.

>> Narrator: Far from the

human world, a baby elephant

in the wild will remember the

smells and sounds of the forest

for her lifetime.

It's these memories that help

her survive.

As a captive elephant for

half her life, what memories

might help Nong Mai

survive in this forest?

She was released by the Elephant

Reintroduction Foundation,

and this was much more than just

setting her free in the forest.

Not every captive elephant is

well-suited to be returned

to the wild.

An elephant suitable for

release must be healthy

and strong.

It can take time for them

to readapt to a life

without humans.

But Nong Mai was the

perfect candidate.

And she had no trouble adjusting

to the freedom of the forest.

It took only a few hours for her

to find a friend.

It was Pompang, an older

reintroduced female who bonded

with her immediately.

Elephants, especially family

elephants, live in cooperative

social groups to help each

other survive.

Nong Mai became part of this

family of formally-captive

elephants.

She learned from the others

about which plants to eat and

where to find them.

Asian elephants have a very

important role in nature as they

roam the forest, elephants

disperse seeds in their dung.

Especially seeds too heavy to

travel any other way.

They open clearings to enable

sunlight for new plants.

They create trails that serve as

highways for all other animals.

They are an essential part of

building biodiversity.

>> Narrator: Elephants

communicate with each other in

many different ways.

They speak with a variety of

sounds and subsonic rumbles

which are inaudible to humans.

Their highly sensitive trunks,

which are like the human hand,

are constantly used to smell and

touch other family members.

To share information

and feelings.

>> Narrator: They also give off

chemical signals to express what

they're thinking or feeling.

This stimulates their superior

sense of smell that is five

times more sensitive than the

human nose.

>> Elephants, you know, have

been just another animal to me

until I found out,

no, elephants are not animals.

They are another living species

very close to human beings

because they can think,

they have emotions,

they can speak,

they, you know, communicate.

You know, they have emotions

that are very close to

human emotions.

They also know the self.

They know who they are.

The elephant knows that he or

she exists as an individual.

>> Narrator: Nong Mai and

Pompang have become inseparable.

Despite the years that they are

behaviour was shaped by humans,

they have quickly learned to

follow their own instincts and

depend on each other.

>> Narrator: These reintroduced

elephants come from

many different captive places

within Thailand and are likely

not related.

But they have been able to form

family groups just like

wild elephants.

The sublangka wildlife sanctuary

is one of three sanctuaries

where the Elephant

Reintroduction Foundation has

released captive elephants.

These three protected areas

total almost a half-a-million

acres of natural habitat.

>> Most the elephants that we

have been working with have

been very happy-

They are growing old naturally

in an environment that

theylove.

They have grown healthier.

We are seriously involved in

trying to have elephants breed

naturally in these natural

habitats so that they can,

you know, self sustain

the population.

>> Narrator: While wanting of

reintroductions to provide a

better life for elephants,

the ultimate goal is to

reestablish self-sustaining

wild populations in the areas

where wild elephants used

to live.

The true measure of success is

that they have mated and

produced wild-born babies.

In these forests,

the elephants can be themselves.

Unlike in the tourist camps

where many of them come from,

here there are no tricks to

perform and there are

no tourists.

Since these elephants have been

released, the forests have

improved.

Today, there are 77 reintroduced

elephants living here, and since

2011 there have been eight

elephants born.

This is one conservation model

that may provide hope for

the future.

And Nong Mai will perhaps have a

role in this future.

>> Narrator: The young

elephants born here might never

know what it is like to walk

in chains.

♪ It feels so warm.

Lying in your mother's arms.

Nothing can hurt you.

You're free from harm.

>> Narrator: This is the end

of the elephant story.

They are now doing what most

wild elephants like to do

which is having nothing

to do with people.

>> Oh, she's coming.

She's coming.

>> That's Nong Mai in the front.

>> Nong Mai is clearly

exhibiting a lot of aggression.

She's become actually a

bit Wild.

The big one is Pompang.

Pompang's actually the

matriarch.

All these other elephants that

are with her with are the

younger elephants here in

the sanctuary.

And they've all kind of formed

this little herd.

So Nong Mai is kind of the boss.

It seems like she really just

wants us to get out of the way.

Nong Mai.

>> Well, we've seen something

that we never expected we

would see.

>> That was great.

>> Nong Mai has gone completely

wild and she's part of a heard

with Pompang as a leader,

but then there's three other

young elephants about her same

age with her to so there's a

total of five of them there.

>> Narrator: They had chased us

behind that line that now

divides their world from ours.

But one stayed behind.

She was walking out to our human

world one last time as if to

show us that our worlds are not

so different.

Perhaps she remembers what we

have forgotten.

That maybe we are more like each

other than we realize.

Or maybe she was just coming to

gay goodbye.

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