My first goal in returning to TECC was to document which plants were being used to treat sick elephants. How did they use these plants and for what health complaints? I set out to visit four Karen communities in northern Thailand. I worked with an interpreter. We explained my interest to village leaders, elephant camp owners, and mahouts. We told them how I would use the information provided. They agreed to help. We set up interviews with the mahouts and asked them to describe what plants they used for elephant medicine.

One of the greatest challenges I faced was language. I speak English and am just starting to learn Thai. The Karen people speak their own language, Pakinyaw. Many also speak Thai. At times, a question had to be translated twice! With patience and lots of repetition, we made progress.

After interviews, I would ask the most knowledgeable mahouts to bring me into the forest. There, I collected samples of key plants and dried them in a plant press. The plants were identified and then taken to an herbarium, a kind of library for plant specimens.

After several months, we had learned about 34 plant species that were used in more than 40 different treatments. The most common use was as a tonic. This herbal supplement keeps the elephants healthy. It increases energy and regulates digestion.

Raw or cooked rice is added to the tonic, as well as tamarind fruits and bananas. Afterward, mahouts make balls or pellets of this bittersweet mixture. They feed one or more to the elephants each day. A sick elephant is given more doses of the tonic.

Other plants were used to treat wounds, eye problems, broken bones, skin problems, fatigue, and snakebites. To help elephant mothers produce more milk, banana flower and ginger root are fed to a mother elephant. For eye problems, plants are ground up and placed in the eye. Other plants are boiled in water for elephants to drink.

Number of plants used for medical treatments of elephants:

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