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By Jenna Thompson An elephant (with a chain on his/her left ankle) before stepping into a deep body of water The beautiful country of Thailand is well known for the nation’s symbol – elephants. Even the old Thai flag used to have an elephant on it until 1917. Many tourists flock to the attraction of riding elephants and taking photos with them since it is considered a once in a lifetime opportunity that is hard to pass up. Imagine feeling each step a massive elephant takes beneath you, one-by-one. Sitting in awe upon a strapped saddle on an amazing creature while trekking through a dense jungle. Who wouldn’t want to experience this? Thailand currently has a population of 3,000 to 4,000 elephants.1 With elephants being readily available, it seems as if riding them is something you must do during your holiday. However, many visitors are unaware of the harmful consequences and continue to support elephant tourism. Elephants once roamed the Thailand freely until they were captured and forced to work in the logging industry. Thailand’s forest areas were reduced from 80 percent in the 1950’s to less than 20 percent in the early 1990’s.2 Due to the depletion of forests, the government banned logging in 1989 and the elephants who were once used to haul lumber were proclaimed jobless.3 The elephant’s trainers and keepers, called mahouts, were out of work and didn’t have a use for their elephants. Since elephants were unable to return to their natural habitat because of deforestation, the mahouts kept their elephants to make money. The mahouts unethically turned to pursue elephant tourism as an income. Although elephants are socially intelligent by nature, they are forced to go through painful training to be used for tourism. An elephant doesn’t naturally allow a human to climb atop his/her back for a ride. To do so, elephants are taken away from their mother at a young age to go through training called Phajaan. This tradition means “to crush” baby elephants from his/her spirit.4 This method requires elephants to be tied up in small pens and repeatedly beaten until they learn to fear and obey humans. Mahouts use bullhooks, a hook made of steel or silver that is attached to a wooden stick, to jab elephants in sensitive areas such as their ears, trunks, and eyes.5 Elephants forcibly learn to follow mahout’s commands due to fear of mental and physical harm. If you are brave enough to watch the terrible process of the “crush” training click here. Throughout Phajaan, elephants suffer from hunger, thirst, sleep deprivation, severe abuse, and confinement will being chained. Once mahouts gain power over a helpless elephant, they begin harsher methods of training for riding, painting, and tricks for elephants to perform in front of spectators. The duration of Phajaan usually takes a week however it depends on the mahout. Although this is considered a short period of time, the highly traumatic experience is etched into elephant’s brains who can be triggered by flashbacks and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.6 The “prized” elephant during his/her solo lap around the track Elephants who are used in the tourism industry not only suffer from abusive training but also unacceptable health and captive conditions. In 2010, World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) researched the lives of captive wild elephants who are now used in tourism venues across Thailand. The group documented a total of 1,688 elephants throughout 118 venues, with the majority offering elephant rides or shows. Fifty-three percent of the venues did not meet the basic needs for elephants, while 41% of the venues offered slightly improved but still inadequate conditons.7 The main welfare issues were extreme restraint, through being chained or caged, with limited freedom to move, limited opportunity to socialize with other nonhuman animals, participation in stressful and demanding actives, including interaction with people and performing in shows, non-existent or insufficient veterinary care, and inadequate nutrition and diet. Only six of the 118 venues WSPA visited had commendable animal welfare standards, all six did not use elephants for entertainment.7 From these poor welfare conditions, elephants can develop neurological disorders called stereotypies, which are repetitive movements that are established without purpose or function, such as head bobbing or swaying their bodies side to side.7 This behavior has only been observed in captive animals. I spent a year as an exchange student in Thailand after graduating high school. Throughout the year, I made enough memories for a lifetime but there is one experience that I deeply regret to this day. I spent a day at an elephant conservation center in a city called Lampang with other exchange students. Our day started with an elephant show. Elephants young and old, marched around emotionless while being “guided” by their mahout’s bullhook purely for the crowd’s entertainment. A prized elephant who had the biggest tusks got a solo lap around the track clothed in red and gold and a royal saddle guarded by men dressed in war uniforms. The herd then played basketball but only made the plays their commanders called for. The audience gasped in amazement when the mammals used their trunks to paint pictures on canvases. The show came to an end, the paintings were auctioned, and we were on our way to partake in the main reason of our visit. The paintings individual elephants created which were later auctioned We had to climb up to a loading dock to be at the height of our transportation. Once we reached the top, we were greeted by an elephant with a saddle firmly strapped down to his/her body that was big enough to fit two people. My riding partner and I hopped on and we were on our way through the forest. Our mahout, a local Thai man, appeared to be happy but I could tell our elephant wasn’t. When our mahout was taking us through the various terrains of deep water, steep hills, and hot pavement, our elephant continuously stopped and disobeyed the commands, unwilling to continue the trek. Our mahout would give our elephant stern kicks to his/her head with his foot or poked his/her ears with a bullhook until s/he ventured forward. I looked around and saw multiple elephants, all who had chains around their left ankle, challenging the mahouts control. After a strenuous thirty-minute ride, we dismounted from our excursion as our elephant then lined up to do the same route, this time with different passengers. I left the conservation camp with several photos of me smiling on top of a majestic nonhuman animal, unknowing of the torture they must go through for our enjoyment. How did I not wonder what elephants go through to learn such unnatural skills? Now that I know what goes on in the industry I look back at the same photos in disgust. I so badly wish I knew how the elephants were treated before I stepped foot in that conservation center. I was not alone; most people are oblivious of the horrific training process elephants go through for human pleasure. Photojournalist Brent Lewin shed light to the public after winning a Science/Natural History Award for a photo he took of a young elephant being beaten to prepare for the Thai tourism industry. Lewin stated “the baby elephant was terrified and started crying. The biggest difficulty I experienced was not being able to put a stop to it”.8 My mahout holding his bullhook Interacting with elephants does not have to require them to be abused and neglected. There are ethical and responsible ways to connect with these incredible nonhuman animals. As the demand of elephant tourism raises, more elephants are poached from the wild to be used for entertainment. WSPA estimates as many as 75% of captive adult elephants used for tourism in Thailand have been taken directly from the wild.7 Before visiting a place with elephants, do the research to make sure you are going to a cruelty-free park. Visit sanctuaries where rescued elephants live a free no-riding life. Support the Elephant Nature Park, where elephants are saved from cruel tourism camps or check out this list of other ethical sanctuaries during your visit in Thailand. Please do not make the same mistake I did. Citations 1. Elephant Conservation in Thailand. (n.d.). Retrieved April 01, 2017, from http://www.eleaid.com/country-profiles/elephants-thailand/ 2. The Elephant Situation in Thailand and a Plea for Co-operation - Roger Lohanan. (n.d.). Retrieved April 01, 2017, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/ad031e/ad031e0r.htm 3. Stu Bykofsky FOR, T. I. (2012, Feb 12). Only Elephants Need Apply. Philadelphia Inquirer Retrieved from http://ezproxy.mnsu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/docview/921362828?accountid=12259 4. Thailand Elephants. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2017, from https://www.thailandelephants.org/the-ugly 5. P. (n.d.). How Elephants Communicate. Retrieved April 03, 2017, from https://www.elephantvoices.org/elephants-in-captivity-7/about-the-bull-hook.html 6. Bradshaw, G.A., Ph.D, and Lorin Lindner, Ph.D., M.P.H. "Post-Traumatic Stress and Elephants in Captivity." SpringerReference (n.d.): n. pag. Retrieved April 15, 2017, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b5b9/4307d6f45747fdccfb82dc5a69df71d02658.pdf 7. World Society for the Protection of Animals. "Wildlife on a Tightrope." Freedom After the Critique of Foundations (n.d.): n. pag. Retrieved April 15, 2017, from http://www.worldanimalprotection.org/sites/default/files/int_files/wildlife-on-a-tightrope-thailand.pdf 8. Baby Elephant Tortured into Submission Before Illegal Smuggling from Burma to Thailand. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/03/03/6180772-baby-elephant-tortured-into-submission-before-illegal-smuggling-from-burma-to-thailand AUTHOR BIOJenna Thompson is a freshman at Minnesota State University, Mankato. When she is not doing schoolwork, you can find her outdoors either kayaking, camping, hiking, or biking. Her favorite outdoor campion is her three-year-old rescue dog, Rex. More from JennaComments are closed.
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This is a website about nonhuman animals, written by human animals taking a Society and Animals class at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Archives
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