Comments / pictures Mature Thai khoonkie male from the Northern province of Chaiyaphum in Thailand, imported to Sumatra for training purpose.The tradition of elephantkeeping which eventually returned to Sumatra in 1985 with the establishment of the centre in Way Kambas National Park was introduced from Thailand with the arrival of two Thai 'khoonkie elephants and four mahouts from the Northern province of Chaiyaphum. The aims of the centre as stated by Santiapillai & Ramono (1991) were to "promote the breeding of elephants in captivity so that some animals will be available for use in Fores0y and nature oriented tourism" which was latter expanded to "reestablish the elephant as part of Sumatra's myths, history and cultural heritage (Santiapillai & Ramono, 1991). The PHPA were helped in their efforts by Taman Safari Indonesia (TSI) who were involved in the successful selection and Translocation
of the two khoonkie elephants and mahouts from Thailand to Way Kambas National Park (Manansang, 1993). Krishnamurthy (1992) reported in l99l that a newly captured cow had mated with Sengtong in October of that year Definite secretions were observed on Sengtong in June 1997 and he was observed to have come into Musth
in June 1997 andagain in December 1997 (Nazarrudin pers. comm.) During the Musth
period he was more difficult to handle than usual and contact was kept to a minimum. Consequently he was isolated from the other elephants and tethered in a nearby naturally swampy area, where he could take food and water, as neither supplemental foodMahout .
