Gee Nowl

Story

Gee Nowl (Ride Ganesh in Bunong, or brilliant in French) is our tallest female elephant and her skinny body is one that reminds us daily that elephants are wild animals and are not supposed to be worked, ridden or controlled in an unnatural way.

She endured a hard life as a logging elephant and one day escaped her mahout’s control and when she ran away neighbours property, who caught her and kept chained up in a small concrete yard which offered no sensory stimulation (no one to talk to, nothing to do) and she wasn’t given the right foods. Her odd eating habits are probably both a mental and physical issue. As well and bad digestion she plays with her food, gets bored of it very easily and eats very slowly. This also made her very aggressive, almost like PTSD. After her arrival in the beginning of 2008, it took her 3 months at the EVP to calm down and slowly become the gentle giant we know today. 

She originally came in with 2 other elephants, Easy Rider and Milot, who had the same owner on a retirement compensation, but 5 years later, in 2013, her owner approached us to sign her over to the project and we set about to crowd fund enough money so that she could permanently stay at the EVP and live out the remainder of her life in the forest.

She is second half of the “Terrible Two” duo and certainly a faithful sidekick to Easy Rider. Easy looks out for Gee Nowl and is always making sure everything is in order when it comes to throwing mud, eating grass and munching on bamboo and her constant attention always puts a smile on Gee Nowls face. Their friendship is magic although sometimes Easy bosses her around and brings Gee Nowl along for mischief.

Come for a visit and say hello to her yourself!