Seeing starving, sad animals is never easy, but it's even worse when you know there's nothing you can do to help them.
That's exactly how Lek Chailert felt when she saw Eyeyarmay, a 3-month-old elephant at a special orphanage in Myanmar.
Lek is the founder of Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary in Thailand, though she was visiting Myanmar when she saw Eyeyarmay.
She knew the sweet baby elephant was in bad condition — Lek could see all her bones, and could even count her ribs.
Lek knew that if Eyeyarmay didn't get help soon, she would die. Eyeyarmay should have be with her mother, though it was unclear at the time what happened to her mom.
The sweet orphan was at the orphanage with two other orphaned elephants, 4-month-old Mary and 7-month-old Yuyu. Eyeyarmay was in the worst condition of the three.
Because it's difficult to get elephant formula in Myanmar, Lek posted on Facebook, asking for compassion for the baby elephant.
[H/T: The Dodo]
Lek explained on Facebook that she loves elephants — they are what make her feel at home in Myanmar.
Every year, she visits elephants in Myanmar. This year, she visited a new orphanage.
The new orphanage, which doesn't have much funding, has three baby elephants in need of care. One elephant in particular caught Lek's eye.
Eyeyarmay, a 3-month-old calf, was in quite critical condition, both physically and mentally.
Lek wrote:
The baby requires direct care at this time and motherly accompaniment.
I come here to suggest how to make the baby feel comfortable and to get the best care.
This camp is very new and just recently opened. To take care of baby nutrition it is very sensitive because their life at this stage is very fragile.
In Myanmar it is so difficult to get baby elephant milk formula.
The camps still use cow milk to feed them but this can cause them dysentery which complicates their health status a lot.
If any of you can find the baby elephant milk formula, please help.
One person, one box can help to save the baby elephant's life.
People who saw Lek's post immediately felt sorry for the poor elephant and wanted to help, so they started donating money and formula to save sweet Eyeyarmay.
If you want to help the baby elephant as well, you can visit some of the links Lek provided in her status.
A company in Canada, Grober Nutrition, helps provide formula to baby animals, while Save Elephant Foundation accepts donations to help protect endangered elephants.
With over 500 shares on Facebook and over 1,300 reactions, people are definitely getting the word out about Eyeyarmay.
The donations have started rolling in, but the more help, the better!
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