Sri Nuan The Elephant Has Her Blanket Thanks To Longridge Residents

Emma Scott, who delivered the blanket to Sri Nuan, at Elephant Nature Park in Thailand

Back in February, our Monday morning craft group started knitting a wool blanket for Sri Nuan, a senior rescue elephant at Elephant Nature Park in Thailand. Square by square, over months of Monday mornings, the blanket slowly came together.

It's now finished, it's made the journey to Thailand, and Sri Nuan has it wrapped around her.

Delivered with love

Sewn into the blanket is a small handmade label: hand knitted by the ladies of the craft group, with much love, from Longridge. Seeing it there, on the elephant it was made for, on the other side of the world, is exactly the moment our residents have been knitting toward.

The handmade label sewn into Sri Nuan's blanket by the Longridge craft group

Why Sri Nuan needed it

Sri Nuan was born in 1962 and spent much of her early life working in logging and tourist trekking before being rescued in 2005. She lost sight in one eye during those years. Despite that, she's become a steady, gentle presence at the sanctuary, known as a nanny elephant who looks out for the younger members of the herd. She's the largest female elephant at the park.

As elephants age, they lose muscle and body condition, which makes it harder for them to stay warm. Wool breathes and holds warmth well in outdoor conditions, which is why the sanctuary uses blankets like this one for its older elephants during cooler periods.

A group effort, start to finish

The project began after one of our team members returned from a retreat at Elephant Nature Park and shared her experience with residents. That's where the idea took hold, and the whole craft group got behind it from there.

Residents donated wool, contributed knitting time, and in many cases did both, working square by square during Monday morning craft sessions and at home in between.

Once the blanket was finished, it made its way back to Thailand with Emma Scott, who runs the retreat, and was delivered to Sri Nuan in person.

Now that it's finished and delivered, it feels like the right time to say thank you, to everyone at Longridge who picked up a needle, donated wool, or simply cheered the project on from the sidelines. It's hard to imagine another retirement village with a story quite like this one.

Sri Nuan back with her herd, keeping warm in her new blanket.

If you'd like to read more about Sri Nuan and her story, you can do so on the Elephant Nature Park website.