Mrs. Flower was purchased in collaboration with ElefantAsia, by The Elephants Umbrella Fund, a US based NGO. that raises funds to rescue and rehabilitate damaged elephants. The sagacious Mrs. Flower spends her days as a living ambassador for ElefantAsia, trekking or delivering school books, turning up at parties, weddings…anything to further the people’s awareness of the grim situation in which the elephants find themselves.  Mrs. Flower will never haul logs again.

The Asian Elephants, smaller than its African relatives, are culturally significant to the Lao people. Human elephant interaction can be traced back at least 3000 years. An elephant’s life span is similar to a human. The Lao, fervent believers in reincarnation, consider the elephant to be second only to humans in nature and a formidable intelligence that can understand at least 40 commands. Like human beings, the Lao believe elephants to surrounded by 32 guardian spirits, the absence of even one of which may cause sickness.  

In the year 1500BC an elephant and a monkey are believed to have succored the young fasting Buddha by carrying water and honey to him to assist him reach enlightenment. Upon the Buddha’s death, the elephant was the first to mourn at his side. A white elephant appeared in the pregnant Queens Maya’s dream telling her that her future son would be the Buddha. To this day the Lao believe a white elephant to be divine.

An elephant’s trunk can pick up a 5 cent piece, a needle or smash a tree to match wood.

Elephant poop is prized as fertilizer and for medicinal poultices. Elephant poop, say the Lao, has wondrous healing abilities. And grows great vegetables.

The mahout and the elephant from a life-long partnership. A boy mahout will interact with a baby elephant before he can speak.

Elephants do not naturally hold each other tails. This engaging practice only happens in circuses. A baby elephant will hold its mothers tail for support.

Elephants were once armed as war machines and mobile battering rams. Their size alone frightened the ‘you-know-what’ out of adversaries who had never encountered such a creature.

Elephants cannot jump or gallop but make very efficient submarines.

Elephants are not frightened of mice.

Elephants cannot fly.

“They say it is polite to compliment a Lao woman by telling her that she walks like an elephant”, chuckles Sebastien. “To watch an elephant walk is an exquisite sight though, personally, I would not like to try saying it to a French woman!”