LETTER TO KIT FROM MANDALAO FOUNDER and CEO, MICHAEL VOGLER

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“I’m not sure if I ever told you this, but you were supposed to be a baby girl. At least that’s what your old owner told me before I finally got to meet you. I’ll never forget the first time I laid eyes on you. Only a few months old, charging out from under

your mother's legs like a full-grown bull protecting her from any danger. It was clear one thing he said was true though, your dad was most definitely a wild elephant.

Your first few years growing up surrounded by your mom and 8 other loving aunts at MandaLao may have made you the most spoiled boy in the world. You got everything you could have asked for and more and your rambunctious personality soon made you a hit worldwide with different media outlets and guests who were lucky enough to spend time with you.​

I’m not sure if you ever knew the battles we went through to keep you with us and not be sold across the border to China to act in some circus. Or our fight against the government to keep you from having to go through a ‘pajann’ (traditional training). Not that anyone ever expected you to personally thank them, but the hundreds if not thousands of people who visited us and others who donated made it possible for us to purchase you for good.

The time and effort we put into finding you a future home in the jungle - where you could be rewilded with your best friend (Tofu) to go be free with - was a battle nearly won. You were so close to finally taking that first step back into the wild, fulfilling a promise I’d made to you since day one. Healthwise you were the one elephant I never worried about. You were so strong and vital. The old ladies and small babies always worried me, but not you.

Even with world class vet support, there was little we could do besides provide intensive supportive care for you and hope that you had the strength to pull through. We will never know for sure if you were protecting Tofu, yourself or if it was just a pure accident that you and a cobra surprised each other. But, we do know the snake that bit you on the front of your chest managed to hit very soft tissue filled with capillaries and veins that made it so the toxin could spread so quickly and easily through your

system. We tried meds for detoxification, cortosteriods to help you move, pain meds to make you more comfortable, antibiotics to prevent further complications, hydrated you as much as possible and had all of your loved ones right by your side to help calm the fear.

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The vet was amazed you made it through two days. You even started to seemingly get some strength back even though you couldn’t move your limbs. We kept hoping you’d fight your way through it, but as each blood test came back worse and worse you began to fade. The light and glimmer in those crazy eyes of yours began to fade.

You were a pillar of my world for the last 10 years. You were a hope for so many other elephants out there. This is not how it was supposed to happen. Words can’t express how painful your loss is. While you may not be running free with Tofu in the jungles of

Lao right now, I hope you’ve found freedom elsewhere. You will not be forgotten baby Kit. I will always love you to other universes and back little buddy. Goodbye my friend.”