Name: Bun Kham

Bun Kham was sold to Yok Don National Park at a cost of 60,000,000VND (more than 2,500 USD) in the 1990s. At that time, the Park had not been established yet.

It was still a conservation area. Bun Kham became a member of Yok Don and accompanied forest protection rangers on their patrol to the far west of the Park, near the border between Vietnam and Cambodia. The forests back then were dense and there were no well-beaten tracks. Patrolling the vast area was a daunting task without the help of elephants like Bun Kham. Bun Kham had been sold to 6 owners before she was handled by Mr. Y Muh. Bun Kham was regarded as disobedient to her owners from time to time. For instance, there are days she stood in the shade of a tree and shaked her body until the rice basket on her back fell onto the ground. Such misbehavior in an elephant was not accepted by her old owner. Y Muh said that maybe Bun Kham was meant to be with him. It took her almost three years to get used to be in his care. After that, she has followed his commands in a highly cooperative manner. Bun Kham is calm. She roams and eats in a deliberate way and she does not have a voracious appetite compared with Y Khun, her best buddy. Whenever Bun Kham and Y Khun meet, they touch the temporal glands with their trunks. They also touch each other from mouth to face as a way to exchange greetings.