The King of Elephants in the Central Highlands leave behind a dream of the great forest

The King of the Central Highlands Elephants is the affectionate name that the people of Dak Lak give to Dang Nang Long. Because, during the years living in Lien Son town, Lak district, there was a time when Dang Nang Long owned a herd of up to 20 elephants.

Dang Nang Long was born on May 10, 1962. Although he was born in the year of the tiger, Dang Nang Long was especially passionate about elephants. His father was the brave elephant hunter Dang Nang Nhay and his mother was the female elephant keeper Sao Thong Chan, so from a young age Dang Nang Long was close to the majestic elephants of the great forest. At the age of 20, Dang Nang Long began to tame wild elephants into domestic elephants, and was called the king of elephants in the Central Highlands.

At a recent workshop on the development of the Central Highlands elephant herd, the Central Highlands elephant king Dang Nang Long expressed: “I was born under the feet of elephants, grew up on the back of elephants, so now that elephants can reproduce, I am always willing to let my domestic elephants participate in breeding activities. We have been selfish for many years, so that the Central Highlands domestic elephant herd has gone from more than 500 to only more than 40.”

Sadly, for nearly two decades, no domestic elephant has reproduced. If there is no positive solution, in just a few years, when the current elephant herd is no longer of reproductive age, no matter how much money we spend, we will not be able to have baby elephants. 

Unfortunately, that dream was still unfulfilled when the heart of the Central Highlands elephant king Dang Nang Long stopped beating at 3pm on October 27. The Central Highlands elephant king Dang Nang Long passed away at 62.