Musth Mission

Musth is a period that happens only in male elephants where testosterone levels increase up to 50 times the normal range. It is approximately once a year and it can last from a few weeks up to several months! Normally, when bull elephants are going into musth, they are moved far away in the forest since they can be very aggressive and dangerous to both elephants and people.

So when a mahout called me for assistance, I knew it meant that either the elephant broke its chains and was roaming free in the jungle or that they worked the elephant until the last moment and now they could not approach him. The idea of dealing with an elephant out of control was definitely at the top of my list, FUN!

After a 4-hour drive I got to a little hut along the road where the elephant owner and four other people were waiting for me (I was not really sure who the other four were but they came along for the show). I made them signed a liability contract and went on a 1-hour tak-tak ride (quite fun actually) through the forest to where the elephant was.

On the tak tak

We found the bull next to a river and, although it did not show any signs of being in musth on that precise day (temporal glands secretion, urine dribbling, strong odor, charging at everything that moves), he was in fact not listening to any of the mahout’s commands. At this point I realized that the mahout was too scared to try to approach him so I decided to tranquilize him to be able to place the appropriate chains on him.

Elephant across the river

I prepared the darts and, despite my insistence on letting me try, the government official did the shooting. The best part of the day was explaining (in my best Lao) how the protrusion of the penis and the relaxation of the trunk were evidence of sedation. Even after my explanation, they did not want to approach the elephant since his eyes were still open and the ears quietly flapping – I guess they expected the elephant to completely pass out.

Government official getting ready to shoot

Everything worked out pretty smoothly in the end: The elephant was securely chained and everyone very happy.

Karla Nova, DVM

Sneak Peak!

For all of you wondering where I am, here is a a sneak peak of the Elephant Conservation Center in Laos. Enjoy! 

Not a bad place to be, right?
Karla Nova

The nursery

It seems like January is baby month since I cannot stop writing about them! Due to the deep sadness my last post caused I decided to cheer everyone up a little by talking about the 2 babies at the center:

In Laos, domesticated elephants are rarely bred nowadays which explains why we've had just 6 births last year among a captive population of 450. I am not completely sure why but it might be because both females and males are worked exhaustibly in the logging industry with no time left to mate. In addition, these privately owned elephants are most of the time the mahout’s only income making it difficult if not impossible for the mahout to manage without logging for 4 years – the 2 years of gestation plus the first couple of years the baby has to breast feed.

To address this issue and to encourage breeding, the ECC has designed the “Baby Bonus Program”. Participates in the program agree to a 2 to 4 year contract that guarantees the pregnant female will remain at the nursery during gestation and the first couple years of the baby's life so we can ensure their health and safety. In exchange, the mahout is provided food, accommodation and a monthly salary. The mahout's family also receives a tak-tak (hand tractor) so they are able to work in the rice fields.

We currently have 2 babies at the center. We call them baby elephant 1 and baby elephant 2 since traditionally they are not named until they are 3 years old. Baby 1 was actually born at the center! They told the mother actually gave birth a few days after she got here and took less than an hour! Baby 1 is about 13 months old now. His father is a huge wild bull and his mother is just 20 years old. A few weeks ago I tried to perform a physical exam on him but mommy did not really let me approach anywhere near him, not even with the Mahout present! Fortunately, there is nothing to worry about; this baby elephant is very big and healthy, and started eating solid food already!

Baby 2 got here when he was around 1 month old and even though he is slightly older than Baby 1, is much smaller! His father is an average size domesticated bull and his mother is a 37-year-old experienced female. This is her third baby and she has nothing to worry about. He is very adventurous and leaves her side to go explore in the forest (but just for a few seconds before running back!) He loves the water and goes for long “swims” where only his little trunk can be seen. Mae Vaeng, the mother, let us approach with no problem for his vet check but he, on the other hand, was very naughty and tried to kick and head butt us! Lun Passet (mahout and local shaman) is very proud of his baby elephant and told me that his teeth started to come in which he claims means that the baby will have tusks (not all males do).

Lun Passet, I estimate he is around 203 years old! 

So every time I feel a little down I will just take the boat thru the lake to the nursery and go observe some baby behavior; they give me the strength I need to keep going... and after all, there is absolutely nothing more enjoyable!

Karla Nova, DVM
PS: Thanks to Kathy Prost for the amazing pictures!

The Uncommon Veterinarian

I want to openly thanks Dr. Elliott Garber for publishing on his blog my post about my experience of being a veterinarian in Laos...  We are currently looking for the next volunteer vet to replace me and Elliott thought the best way to achieve this was for me to write a brief summary of my adventure here. He was kind enough to put it on his one-of-a-kind blog, Elliott Garber The Uncommon Veterinarian, which I am following since the first day I came upon it. To read the article click here.

I remember when I contacted Elliott for the first time seeking for guidance on how to become an uncommon veterinarian just like him. If you are looking for unique non-traditional veterinary experiences, if you dream of traveling to amazing places or if you wish to make a difference and change this world just like I do then Dr. Elliott Garber is the person to help you get there! Through his blog I found out everything I needed to know from the opportunities available out there to how to get the funding to do it all. 

Elliott performing a rectal palpation on a sedated rhino in South Africa.

Elliott has managed to do really cool things and has decided to share it with the world...I personally think of his blog as "The guideline on how to pursue your dreams while being a veterinarian". 

Thank you Elliott!
Karla Nova, DVM

My Unkept Promise.

“I will save you, I promise you will be alright”, but I had a bitter taste in my mouth and a suction feeling in my chest as I whispered this to the newborn elephant.

I received a call at 11 am in the morning saying that a baby elephant was born last night, which was very ill and couldn’t stand up. After a 4-hour drive I got to what was going to be my worst nightmare. We were deep in the forest and it was going to be dark soon, I did a cursory physical exam before taking him to the nearest village:

Dull mentation, shallow and rapid breathing, elevated heart rate, and cold, dry and pale mucous membrane. Umbilicus looks infected and swollen, and front right limb swollen and terribly bruised (probably broken).

The history I managed to get was that the mother had given birth the night before and she had apparently been kicking the baby. He had not fed since being born because he couldn’t stand (around 15 hours ago!). The baby was in hypovolemic and probably septic shock. My prognosis: grave.

At the site of the baby I just wanted to sit there and cry. It was awful to see him like this and imagine how painful and desperate he must have been all these hours. Life should not be this cruel. But there was not any time to spare; we carried him away from the mother as she screamed, kicked, attacked us, and tried to break her chain along with the tree it was attached to. It took 6 people to put the baby on a tack-tack (hand tractor) and transport him to my truck to be able to get him to the village. I asked them to bring the mother as well as newborns should remain with their mothers and I wanted to try to milk her.

On the tak-tak

On our way!

Setting up camp

Once in the village, I set up a camp where I spent the next 13 hours without leaving his site. I did not drink, eat, sleep or shower. NOTHING, absolutely nothing was remotely as important as trying to save possibly this year’s only baby (in my last post I explained how fragile the elephant population in Laos is). The entire village was with me, never left me alone, and constantly helped me with the baby. They all brought carpets and mattresses and surrounded us to keep us warm. 


I had beds, blankets, and a fire to warm the baby up. I managed to get an auricular vein (not easy when your patient is hypothermic and in shock and when the only source of light is a small flashlight and you do not have any catheters) and quickly administered 1 liter of fluid to him before loosing the vein. I disinfected the umbilicus and administered antibiotics and anti-inflammatory. As he had been on lateral recumbency for 12 hours I feared for lung atelectasis and decided to flip him over every hour. I wanted to try and pass an orogastric tube to feed him so the chief of the village brought me the one used for putting gas into vehicles...honestly I could not care less, it was the only thing I had. Unfortunately, it was too short so I could not leave it in; I gave him coconut water (it has electrolytes and sugar) since I still did not have any milk… or the mother.

Getting a vein.

A few hours later the mahout finally arrived.  He did not bring the mother and only managed to milk 200 milliliters of colostrum despite being told to get liters! I did not quite understand why he left the mother in the forest when I was so explicit she should come but at this point I was desperate and felt overwhelmed and helplessness. The gravity of the situation, remoteness and isolation of the mother, and lack of understanding of the mahouts was enough to make me want to shut down and weep. I did not though; I had to be strong for the baby. I told the mahout to go back into the forest and not to come back until he gets 5 liters of milk. I wanted to go myself but getting there would take hours and my place was with the baby.

Around midnight the baby was out of shock and was vocalizing and trying to stand up! When we stood him and supported him he screamed in excitement and began flapping his ears! I was so happy I began to cry. I took a bottle with coconut water and lifted his little trunk; he started to suck as hard as he could… Hope. For the first time I felt hope, but just for a few seconds before he was too tired to continue and stopped. I laid him down and tried to bottle-feed him unsuccessfully. I continued all night like this. I felt desperate, lonely, helplessness, and powerlessness. No one, absolutely no one was there for me but I had to be strong and hold on…. In the end, the mother’s milk never got there and of course, no one survives on coconut water. Further on he developed respiratory noises and was very congested.

At 3:30 am I had some hope.

Please understand this has been the hardest thing I have written in my entire life. This story is very personal; the loss of a life is not easy, but it is made all the much harder when it is a newborn especially one you know you could have saved under different circumstances. Today I feel lost, useless, powerless, overwhelmed, and clueless. I was as fragile as the baby; most of the time I was not sure who was saving whom.

In his last moments of life I had his head on my lap… he looked at me and touched my face full of tears with his weak and flaccid trunk one last time… like it was me who needed the comfort. I hugged and kissed him and remained like this until the brightness left his eyes and life slipped away from him. At the end I could not keep my promise…at the end I did not save him.

Karla Nova
PS: I want to ask to all my veterinarians friends out there to please tell me what else could I have done, what did I do wrong and what could I have done differently. I will really appreciate some input and feedback as I want to learn all I can from my mistakes. I will be forever thankful.

Just another lost cause?

Elephants in Laos: is it just another lost cause?

I feel so frustrated right now! And because I promised honesty and reality I decided to express myself and tell you all about it. On this post, I am going to confess the reality of the situation of the elephants in Laos: CRITICAL.

It is estimated that the captive/domestic population is composed of less than 450 elephants. In addition, the WWF did a survey of the wild population back in 2009 and they estimated around 400-500 elephants! Simple math people: Once known as the land of a million elephants, Laos is now home to less than 1000 individuals!

Additionally, last year Laos suffered 15 deaths among the captive population and just had 6 births! (I just hope the wild population is doing better)… So as you can see, elephant population is decreasing…and fast! After digging into it a little more I came to find out that only 46 females are of breeding age (of the 450!) and that when a mahout wishes to mate his female elephant he can either pay another mahout who owns a male elephant (some say this costs as much as US$ 1,000 which they can’t afford) or he can release his elephant into the forest where wild bulls are known to roam and just hope they mate. Crazy right? No wonder we lack of calves.

One of our baby elephants at the center, love him like my own

On top of this, the Lao government sold 8 of the 46 females of breeding age to the Japan Zoo! Against everything we said, did and the international pressure applied, they sold these valuable elephants and kept the millions of dollars for themselves. I simply cannot believe, understand or accept this.

I have come to realize that we do not have any support from the Lao government in this battle. In Dominican Republic we have a popular saying: “lo que hacemos con las manos otros lo desbaratan con los pies” (literal translation: what one do with his hands others destroy it with their feet). I came out here to try to save the elephants in Laos but… am I by myself in this battle? Is this just another lost cause? I feel so discouraged and frustrated lately!

I cannot help but wonder if the next Lao generation will be the last one to ever see the elephants again.

Karla Nova

love for elephants

to be with no one and yet, 

to never feel alone.

stop.
breathe.
cry if you must.
that is love for elephants.

Karla Nova