Boon Home
Boon Home
Born 1980 | Female | Laos
Boon Home’s life was not unlike many others. As a youngster, she was trained to pull logs. When there were no more logs to pull, she was trained to carry tourists. She was sent to a camp near Luang Prabang, Laos and there her work began as a service riding elephant, day in and day out. Boon Home has had two children, both female, under a forced breeding regimen. They were both taken from her as babies, sold to zoos, one in Japan and the other in Korea.
It was in the Trekking camp that Boon Home made the fond acquaintance of an elephant named Poonmee. They worked together for years. Poonmee was visited by Lek on her visit to Laos to see about an elephant named Sivilai in 2018. Tragically, Sivilai died of a sickness before she could be rescued, but the funding for her through the work of the Greater Good was then redirected to this new sorry elephant named Poonmee. She was lame and disfigured, her front leg broken from harsh treatment.
She was rescued at the end of August 2018. At that time, Lek also showed an interest in her friend, Boon Home. Before Lek could secure the funds to rescue Boon Home, she was sold to a trekking camp for a higher price. Boon Home was moved to the Trekking camp which is actually not too far from our new Sanctuary. Soon after her arrival, she became very sick from a snake bite. The camp had not yet paid for her, and they hesitated for fear of losing an investment. Lek heard about her illness and sent her vet to treat Boon Home. That is when Lek was asked to rescue her thinking she might die. Lek did not feel the same and rescued her as soon as possible. On July 30th 2019, Boon Home walked not more than 10 kilometers to her new found freedom and the rekindling of a friendship. Boon Home and Poonmee are inseparable. As it should always have been, they wander the Sanctuary at their good pleasure, through field and forest and down to the river that flows to the distant mighty Mekong River.
