When I returned to Thailand last year, the first goal of the research was to document which plants mahouts were using to treat sick elephants. I wanted to record how they used these plants and for what health complaints. I set out to visit four Karen communities scattered across northern Thailand. At each one, I worked with an interpreter to explain to village leaders, elephant camp owners, and mahouts why I was interested in their knowledge and how I would use the information they provided for me. They agreed to help. So, we set up interviews with the most knowledgeable mahouts. We asked them to describe what plants they used for elephant medicine. 

One of the greatest challenges I faced in the research was the language. I speak English and am just starting to learn Thai. The Karen people speak their own language, Pakinyaw. Many also speak Thai, which they learn for school and business. There were many times when my questions had to be translated twice! This can be a difficult way to work. Luckily, I had great interpreters to help. With patience, lots of repetition, and the willingness to rephrase difficult questions, we made progress.

After a series of interviews, I would ask the most knowledgeable mahouts to bring me into the forest. There, I collected samples of key plants and carefully dried them in a plant press. Later, these samples would be prepared as botanical specimens. Then they would be identified and deposited at a local herbarium, which is a kind of library for plant specimens.

After several months of work, we had learned about 34 plant species used by the Karen to care for their elephants. Together, these plants were used in more than
40 different treatments. 

The most common use was as a tonic. It keeps the elephants healthy, increases their energy, and helps with digestion. Many kinds of roots, barks, leaves, and stems are mashed together to make
this tonic.

Raw or cooked rice is added to the tonic, as well as tamarind fruits and bananas. The mahouts make balls or pellets of this mixture. They feed one or more to the elephants each day. If an elephant is old, sick, or pregnant, it is given more doses of the tonic. 

Other plants were used to treat wounds, eye problems, indigestion, broken bones, skin problems, fatigue, snakebites, and to help elephant mothers produce more milk for their babies. The medicines are given to the elephants in different ways. For instance, the plants that help a mother produce more milk—banana flower and ginger root—are fed directly to a mother elephant. Plants to help eye problems are ground up and placed directly in the eye. Other plants are boiled in water for a long time (just like tea!) and then given to the elephants to drink or rubbed onto
their skin.

Number of plants used for medical treatments of elephants:

These plant parts are the most commonly used for elephant medicine: