Pun เปิ้ล
Name meaning: Apple
Arrival date: July 2015
Age: 29
Rescue location: Kanchanaburi
History: Pun was rescued with her baby, Pin. The trekking camp where they worked informed us that they would soon be separated, as 8-month old Pin was for sale. In the wild, female elephants typically stay with their mother for life, so WFFT sponsor, Joan Pearson, couldn’t bear the thought of Pun having another baby taken away. Pun was used as a breeding elephant and had already given birth twice. Both calves were sold to be used as working elephants.
Thanks to a very generous donation from Joan and her friends, Pun and Pin were rescued together. Pin sadly passed away at 7 years old in 2023. Thankfully, she spent her life with her mum at the WFFT sanctuary and never experienced the trauma her mother went through.
Characteristics: Pun is a very large, beautiful, healthy elephant. Because she was used for breeding, she was kept in good physical condition and so does not have scars or skin problems like some of our other rescued elephants had on arrival. Also, because of her age, her head is not sunken compared to the older elephants at WFFT.
Despite her difficult past, Pun is very friendly towards people. She is food oriented and often lifts her trunk to smell people as they approach her.
Adopt Pun today: Help us to finance the ongoing care for Pun by making a donation.
Pun’s Story
January 2022
La Ong Dao and Pun make a great parenting team
La Ong Dao (right, in image above) and Pun (left) make such a great team. La Ong Dao was more than 50 years old when she was rescued in 2014: she’d spent her life [...]
December 2021
Elephant training with rescued ellie, Pun
A behind the scenes peek into our elephant training with rescued elephant, Pun. Watch to find out how this training helps to provide elephants like Pun with the necessary care they need. [...]
March 2021
WFFT’s First Elephant Training Wall
(SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH) คอกฝึกช้างคอกแรกที่มูลนิธิเพื่อนสัตว์ป่า ที่ศูนย์ช่วยเหลือช้างของมูลนิธิเพื่อนสัตว์ป่า ทางเรามีความมุ่งมั่นที่จะสร้างและมอบคุณภาพชีวิตที่ดีให้แก่ช้างที่เราช่วยเหลือมาตลอดสิ่งหนึ่งที่สำคัญที่เราต้องการคือคอกฝึกช้าง และวันนั้นก็มาถึง เมื่อเดือนที่แล้วทางเราได้รับทุนมาสร้างคอกฝึกช้างคอกแรกได้สำเร็จ และเรายังได้น้อง ฟาง มาทำหน้าที่เป็นผู้ฝึกช้าง ทำไมช้างจึงถูกฝึกโดยวิธีนี้ คำตอบคือเพื่อช่วยในการจัดการดูแลช้างเลี้ยงแบบไม่ลงโทษ เป็นการสอนช้างให้เชื่อฟังคำสั่งโดยการให้รางวัล การฝึกช้างโดยมีคอกกั้นยังทำให้ผู้ที่ดูแลช้างมีความปลอดภัยในขณะตรวจสุขภาพช้าง เช่น การสั่งให้ยกขา อ้าปาก ทีมสัตว์แพทย์สามารถปฏิบัติงานได้อย่างปลอดภัยเช่นกัน และยังทำฝูงช้างมีความกระตือรือร้นมากยิ่งขึ้น รูปภาพเหล่านี้คือรูปของ เปิ้ล ช้างสาวแสนฉลาด เปิ้ลน่ารักมาก เรียนรู้ได้อย่างรวดเร็ว และสนุกสนานกับการฝึกในรูปแบบต่าง ๆทุกวัน หากท่านสนใจเรื่องราวของเปิ้ล สามารถอ่านเพิ่มเติมได้ที่ www.thaielephantrefuge.org/WFFT-Elephants/pun/ ทางมูลนิธิเพื่อนสัตว์ป่าขอขอบคุณ คุณจอห์นและทีมงานจากแคมป์ช้าง อนันตรา สามเหลี่ยมทองคำ [...]
February 2020
Foot Bath For Pun
Earlier this month, our mahout noticed a deep crack in Pun's nail. If left untreated, it can be really painful for her to put weight onto her foot in the future or even lead to a bacterial infection or osteomyelitis.
June 2019
Special Visitors – Joan Pearson and Friends
(Scroll down for English) สัปดาห์ที่ผ่านมาเราได้ยินดีตอนรับ คุณโจนส์ เพียร์สัน และกลุ่มเพื่อนๆ จากออสเตเรีย ผู้สนับสนุนการช่วยช้างหลายๆเชือกมาอย่างยาวนานที่ให้เกียรติมาเยี่ยมเยียนมูลนิธิอีกครั้ง !! WFFT Elephant Refuge จะเดินมาถึงจุดนี้ไม่ได้เลยถ้าขาดความเอื้อเฟื้อเเละการระดมทุนจาก คุณโจนส์ เพียร์สัน และกลุ่มเพื่อนๆ นอกจากการมาเยี่ยมเยียนในครั้งนี้เเล้วคุณโจนส์เเละเพื่อนๆยังใจดีซื้อผักเเละผลไม้หลากหลายชนิดจากตลาดเกษตรกรท้องถิ่นเเละช่วยกันเตรียมกับเหล่าอาสาสมัครเเละเจ้าหน้าที่ WFFT สำหรับสัตว์ที่มูลนิธิ Help Us Help More Visit > Volunteer > Donate www.wfft.org Last week we were [...]
February 2019
Fruit Pops
It may be winter where you are but it is hot and dry as ever at WFFT! Volunteers made fruit popsicle enrichments for our midland elephants to enjoy and cool down with. They were hung [...]
December 2018
Intruder! Intruder!
🔊SOUND ON! We gave Pin's family a yoga ball for enrichment and their initial response was...a tad dramatic... https://youtu.be/lEc1B59alSI
Midlands Makeover
Last week our elephant volunteers gave a Midlands enclosure a makeover! The poles were repainted, some tire enrichments and a scratching post were set up, and sand piles were recreated for the sweet eles to [...]
November 2018
Pin’s 4th Birthday!
It was Pin's 4th birthday yesterday and we celebrated with a two tiered banana cake complete with tamarind candles. Everything was going just fine until Kaew Petch ran off with the cake! Pin did get [...]
October 2018
Singing in the Rain
This is 4 minutes of pure joy. Watch baby Pin's herd go for a swim and mudbath after a rainstorm! https://youtu.be/sNzWgedhYZU
How to Age Elephants
Did you know that elephants have 6 sets of teeth in a lifetime? Here are some other ways you can estimate the age of an elephant! https://youtu.be/eC7zQSYne3w
August 2018
Set off over the Seas! The Elephant Raft
Take a look at the infamous WFFT Banana Tree Raft, a fun enrichment that the WFFT volunteers love to create for Pin and her family. We recently said goodbye to our Elephant Volunteer Coordinator Dave, [...]
Pin’s Crew… Who knew grass grew on Ele’s.
Take a look at these photographs of Pin and Co. playing with the natural grasses and earth. One may say these ladies are truly caked in earth.
September 2017
Here is the Elefly!
Here is the Elefly! A new species of elephant butterfly all wings spread out. (And if any of you are confused about this new species, it is in fact just Pun flapping her [...]
February 2017
Enrichment time for the ele’s
Here are some images from our latest ele tyre toy enrichments. Hours of fun was had when the new toy was given to Pin's herd, squeaks, rumbles, kicks and lots of trumpets galore. [...]
A Helping Hand (Trunk) for little Pin
As Pin explores her new enclosure she is under the close watch of her doting aunties, La ong Dao and Keaw Petch, and mother Pun. The new lake within the enclosure is considerably larger than [...]
WFFT’s Newest Elephant Enclosure
The latest new enclosure for elephants has just been completed at the WFFT Elephant Refuge - Thailand. We have created a new large area for Pin’s herd, tripling the size of their current habitat. Pin [...]
November 2016
Happy 2nd Birthday to our Special Little Princess
We held a birthday party for little Pin yesterday as she reached two years old. Here are some images of the celebrations with her mother Pun, and aunties Kaew Petch and La Ong Dao. Here’s [...]
June 2016
Our Little Elephant Family
Take a look at our little family of elephants, Pin and mummy Pun, and aunties La Ong Dao and Kaew Petch having fun exploring the neighboring enclosure while we plant new large trees within their [...]
November 2015
Happy 1st Birthday Princess!!!
Today we celebrated baby Princesses (Pin's) 1st birthday with a festivity of balloons, mountains of fresh fruit and an expertly carved bamboo birthday cake. Pin, her mother Pun and her two ever attentive aunties; Kaew [...]
October 2015
WFFT Elephant Herd Update
Baby Pin and mum Pun are spending more and more time in the grassland areas of the WFFT Elephant Refuge with some of the other adult female elephants. Pin is particularly excited about the presence [...]
September 2015
Elephants Big Day Out
Yesterday baby Pin, along with Mum Pun, were introduced to some of our other adult female elephants with the aim of creating a new family for Pin. Dao Rueng, Boon Chuey, Kaew Petch and our [...]
July 2015
Arrival of Princess and her mother Apple
On Friday, July 24th staff and volunteers at WFFT welcomed Apple and Princess! Mother and daughter were rescued after a very generous donation by Joan and her friends (again!). We were informed by an elephant [...]
