You may want to rethink having "Ride an Elephant" on your bucket list

Have you ever thought that riding an elephant would be something you would want to try?
Do you know of friends or family members who have riden one during their trip to South East Asia?  

Unfortunately, most people are unaware of what the elephants have gone through in order to allow humans to ride them.  Even as vet students, we were surprised at our lack of awareness on this issue as we learned how much suffering and abuse the elephants go through just to enter the tourist industry. Therefore, we decided to devote a blog post to the topic, in order to educate the public further on this issue.  You might even rethink your plans of booking an elephant ride the next time you are in Thailand.  

There is a long-time tradition in the Thai culture, the Phajaan or crush, which is the training method elephants undergo to become a part of the tourism industry. As young elephants, they are torn from their mothers and entrapped in a small confined area for days.  They are abused with bullhooks and bamboo sticks spiked with nails, are starved and sleep deprived-- all to become submissive to humans.

The Phajaan process originated in hill tribe communities in India and South East Asia, located in areas where elephants naturally occur. The 'ceremony' of Phajaan is said to have originated from the belief that the tribe's shaman can separate the spirit of an elephant from it's body, in effect driving the willful and wild spirit out of an elephant and leaving it under the control of it's handlers, or mahouts.

In reality, however, the Phajaan has nothing to do with the seperation of spirit, and everything to do with torturing an elephant until it is so fearful of it's human captors that it will do anything to avoid being hurt again.  This is the general and accepted practice in Thailand, and almost every elephant has undergone it if they are at a trekking camp or circus. 

There are also some pretty serious long term effects from being riden. It is not an easy task to support the weight of the packs and people each day (which can lead to spinal injuries). The seat attached on top of their back is strapped on and rubs on the elephants skin all day. This creates blisters that can become infected.  The elephant handlers use painful bullhooks or sling shots in order to "control" their elephants, and tend to use their sensitive areas such as their eyes in order to get their attention. We have seen numerous elephants who have already gone blind or who are going blind because of this.

So, if you are in Thailand and are looking for a project where you can come learn about elephants, feed them, bathe them and spend time with them without casing harm to them, check out Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai.  We would pick being here over taking an elephant ride any day. 



Jaclyn