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Kuala Gandah

A day at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre in Pahang, May 2010: feeding time at the rail, watermelon by the chunk and a bottle-fed baby.

An hour or two east of Kuala Lumpur, in the forests of Pahang, sits the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre: a government-run sanctuary that relocates and cares for elephants displaced by shrinking habitat. In May 2010 we spent a day there, and it rearranged our hearts a little.

Inga standing beside the Pusat Pemuliharaan Gajah elephant conservation centre sign at Kuala Gandah
Pusat Pemuliharaan Gajah, the Elephant Conservation Centre. Proof we made it out of the city.

Visiting hours revolve around the residents' daily routine, and the highlight is feeding time. The keepers hand you fruit, point you at an elephant, and let the two of you work out the rest.

Inga holding out a snack to a young elephant reaching over with its trunk at Kuala Gandah
Negotiations open. The trunk always wins.
Dileep in a red cap feeding a young elephant by the rail with other visitors at Kuala Gandah
Dileep takes his turn at the rail. The elephant has done this before; he has not.
Inga feeding a chunk of watermelon to a young elephant at the Kuala Gandah sanctuary
Watermelon: gone in roughly the time it takes to read this caption.
Inga bottle-feeding a baby elephant with a keeper standing by at Kuala Gandah
Bottle service for the youngest resident, under close professional supervision.

If your Malaysia plans revolve around Kuala Lumpur, this is the day trip we would argue for first. You go for the elephants; you leave quietly rooting for the people who look after them.