photo of people riding elephants crossing body of water

This is a picture of mahouts washing down their elephants in a sanctuary somewhere near northern Chiangmai. Mahouts are elephant trainers who are assigned elephants from a very young age. They grow together with these creatures and develop inseparable bonds with these creatures. Today many elephants are in danger due to the presence of old land mines in certain areas that have yet to detonate. Many of these elephants accidentally stumble upon such landmines and sustain grave injuries. Such sanctuaries were established in these areas to look after these creatures as they recover