Contributed by Nicola Gothard

Many tourists visiting Asia see elephant trekking as an essential component of their ‘experience’ but by taking part in elephant based activities you are more than likely supporting torture and condemning these magnificent creatures to a life of slavery and torment.

I am shortly jetting off to Malaysia and my travel companion sent me some links to ‘elephant sanctuaries’ we could visit for elephant trekking. I was shocked that she would even suggest it, having made my views on this subject clear on numerous occasions. However it really brought it home to me that this whole disgusting business is built on the misguided good will of animal ‘loving’ tourists!

People don’t seem to see what is so wrong with elephant trekking, even when the chains are glaringly obvious!

Although elephants trekking through idyllic jungle, painting pictures or creating music may seem innocent enough on the surface, it belies the greed and cruelty beneath.

Have you ever considered how an animal as big and intelligent as an elephant comes to paint a picture? Elephants are traditionally trained in Thailand using the Phajaan training technique. Phajaan is meant to break the spirit of the elephant so that it is easy to control. Young elephants are taken away from their mothers to be tortured in to submission. The already distressed elephant has its legs tied up tightly with rope before being forced into a cage that barely fits it’s body and chained in place. They are deprived of food, water, and sleep and tortured with sharp implements. The torture is endured by the elephant for up to 6 days until the shaman senses that the spirit has been changed (broken). These ritualized “training” sessions leave the elephants badly injured, traumatized, or even dead. Click here to watch a clip of  an elephant undergoing Phanjaan but be warned you may find it very distressing.

Often these so called sanctuaries are poorly managed, with elephants spending long periods of time tied up and exposed to the sun in concrete yards, unable to behave naturally.

Ultimately wild animals should not be kept in captivity and forcing them to behave in unnatural ways is stressful and causes behavioural problems. Once the public have gone home for the night many of these elephants display stereoptypical behaviours such as repetitive pacing and swaying from side to side which are symptomatic of emotional distress and boredom. See the video below for an example of elephant stereotypies.

There is only one place that I know of where tourists can visit asian elephants ethically – the elephant nature park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Established in 1995, Elephant Nature Park is home to over thirty rescued elephants. Ranging in age from infants to old-timers, these previously abused and neglected creatures are able to live out the rest of their lives in peace and dignity on the Park’s grounds. There is no riding on the elephants at the nature park but you can help bath and feed them. The elephants are free to escape the tourists if they wish and they are well cared for using positive reinforcement training.

I was delighted to see an article about the elephant nature park in the Daily Mail today. If you are interested in reading about Wendy Gomershall’s experience of visiting the elephant nature park click here.

The asian elephant is an endangered species. Their habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate. If we are to save the asian elephant and its habitat we need to support ethical tourism where both the elephants and their environment are preserved in their natural states.

Please don’t visit sanctuaries where the elephants are forced to perform or give rides. To do so would be to support animal cruelty and negatively impact on the conservation of the species.