Caring for Elephants Faithfully

Nazaruddin, 52, has spent half his life with elephants. Love for this giant mammal has been ingrained in Lampung’s first mahout. Working as a mahout is not without risk. Several times, Nazar has come close to death when interacting with the animal.

KOMPAS/VINA OKTAVIA

Nazaruddin

Nazaruddin “Nazar”, 52, has spent half his life with elephants. Love for this giant mammal has been ingrained in Lampung’s first mahout.

Working as a mahout is not without risk. Several times, Nazar has come close to death when interacting with the animal.

In September 2017, for example, the man from Seluma regency, Bengkulu, was almost trampled by a wild elephant in a forest in Jambi as he was trying to put a GPS collar on it. The elephant ran at him in an attempt to attack him. Nazar tried to flee, but fell and broke his leg. Luckily, God was watching over him.

“The elephant stood still and its trunk was over my body. I held by breath. I prayed to God to save me and let me continue caring for elephants,” he said, recalling the incident.

Kompas spoke to Nazar in June at Lembah Hijau Tourist Park in Bandar Lampung. While telling his story, Nazar looked at three tame elephants inside a cage at the park.

His prayer was answered. The wild elephant only threw him about 2 meters away and then ran into the forest, leaving Nazar laying on the grass.

This near-death experience was not his only one. In 1992, Nazar and a colleague lost their way in a forest in Mesuji regency, Lampung.

Nazar was then trying to lead 30 elephants into the forest. He had brought with him four tame elephants from the elephant training center in Way Kambas National Park, East Lampung.

However, during the trip, one tame elephant joined a group of wild elephants, so Nazar went off to try and search for the tame elephant.

During his search, he and his colleague became lost in the forest. For three days, they survived by eating fruits and leaves because they had run out of food. They also encountered other wild animals.

“While we were sleeping, a python slithered over us. We also saw a tiger passing by as if it wanted us to stay away,” said Nazar.

Observing the signs in their surroundings, Nazar and his colleague decided to turn around. After walking for a whole day and becoming exhausted, they finally found their way home.

“We heard the sound of a truck from afar. After finding the road, we tried to stop the passing trucks. Sadly, none of the trucks stopped. Perhaps the drivers thought we were criminals,” he said.

Luckily, a local farmer on a motorcycle passed by just then and was eager to help them. Nazar told the motorcyclist they were mahouts who had gotten lost in the forest. He asked the farmer to tell a policeman that they needed help.

Later that day, a team of forest rangers arrived to pick them up. Nazar was even more grateful to learn that the tame elephant had also come back on its own.

Grass gatherer

Nazar, a graduate of a Bengkulu economics high school who is now a civil servant, started out as a grass gatherer, collecting cut grass to feed the elephants. Initially, Nazar was hired in 1984 as an honorary administrative staffer at Way Kambas National Park for a monthly wage of Rp 5,000.

In November 1984, he joined the Tata Liman elephant operation upon an order from the central command. The operation was to lead around 200 elephants from central, south, west and north Lampung to Way Kambas in a bid to reduce human-elephant conflicts, especially after the arrival of migrants from Java and Bali under the transmigration program.

It was during the operation that Nazar fell in love with elephants. He asked his supervisor to assign him to caring for the elephants. Although his request was turned down, he continued taking care of the animals voluntarily.

“The elephant I was taking care of was named Kartijah. Each morning, I boiled water and gathered grass for the elephants. I also bathed and led the elephants to an open field to feed,” said Nazar.

The following year, an elephant trainer from Thailand came to Way Kambas. Every day, Nazar watched the Thai mahout to learn about elephants.

Because he took care of the elephants diligently, Nazar was trusted to become a mahout. Since then, he was fully assigned to take care of the elephants at Way Kambas.

As a mahout, Nazar also trained 28 tame elephants to play soccer. The tame elephants performed in front of President Soeharto during the opening of the 15th Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran recitation contest in February 1988.

His work as mahout was known not only in Indonesia but also overseas. From 1998 to 2000, Nazar was invited to train African elephants. Although he had never seen African elephants before, Nazar trained 15 African elephants and tamed them. He was also invited to speak at an international elephant conference in Chicago, the United States.

In 2006, Nazar helped treat and heal 10 elephants that were tortured in Riau. The wild elephants were bound with wounds on their legs and were starving, with some in critical condition. He also helped investigate and solve the case.

Conflict resolution

Nazar remains active in helping to resolve human-elephant conflicts in Lampung and other places across the country. He is the point man in every operation to relocate wild elephants.

Nazar is currently helping to resolve a human-elephant conflict in Tanggamus regency, Lampung, which has been going on for a year. He is also commanding an operation to herd 12 wild elephants from a protected forest to South Bukit Barisan National Park.

For his dedication, Nazar was named chairman of the Indonesia Mahout Forum in 2006. Through the forum, he shared his knowledge about caring for elephant with others. “What I want is to increase the population of elephants and to end all human-elephant conflicts,” he said.

For Nazar, mahouts play a critical role in saving the wild elephant population. The road to conserving the wild elephant is a long one amid the loss of elephant habitats. He still has faith in his journey.

KOMPAS/VINA OKTAVIA

Nazaruddin

Born: Lubuk Lintang, Nov. 11, 1965

Wife: Sri Wahyuni Indrawati

Children: Rina Novilia, Gita Yunadia Putri, Andika Anugra Pratama

Education: Elementary school (1977); Junior high school (1981); Economics high school (1984)

Profession: Mahout (civil servant)

Organization: Indonesia Elephant Conservation Forum; Chairman, Indonesia Mahout Forum (2006-present)