It is morally unjustifiable to ride elephants on your vacation in Asia

While in Thailand this summer, I skipped the elephant ride.

I remembered hearing about what an amazing experience it was from many people – my friend showing me pictures on the bus of her on an elephant, my Latin teacher telling me how much fun she and her family had on an elephant ride in Thailand, a family friend recounting a funny experience of an elephant walking off to eat nearby shrubs while his family was on it – but I wasn’t there for that reason. Westerners just want to have an exciting vacation with a fun loving elephant who’s more than willing to carry their practically negligible weight for half an hour. I couldn’t blame them. It did seem like a day that can’t be matched. However, none of these people knew that they were supporting the systematic torture of one of earth’s most intelligent, unique creatures.

Because of an elephant’s nature it’s nearly impossible to adequately provide for it in captivity. Elephants eat for approximately 18 hours a day and are constantly moving in the wild so as not to exhaust one area of forest. They bathe in mud and can self medicate, knowing which plants have which medicinal properties. But even in the best of camps, these needs cannot be met. They often don’t have access to fresh water, shade or mud, which they use to protect their skin, and they live on concrete or pavement, which damages their highly sensitive feet. Camps could barely change these conditions if they tried, but they often go further, subjecting the elephants to abuse and mental trauma.

Baby Wan Mai playing in the forest

Elephants have terrible eyesight, mostly relying on hearing and smell. They’re advertised as “so intelligent they can paint!”, but it’s an unnatural behavior they’re forced to do; they can’t even differentiate between most of the colors. Some elephants are trained to paint using positive punishment and negative reinforcement, while some have a mahout (elephant driver) standing behind their ear using his bull hook to poke the parts of their ear with more nerve endings, causing their trunks to move in a certain direction as a reflex reaction. After the childlike paintings are completed, they’re auctioned off in the crowd. The buyers, believing they just witnessed a truly remarkable display, will show them to their friends who now want to see an elephant paint. Meanwhile, the elephants are taken backstage where they are tied up and beaten or whipped if they performed below what the owner expected or hoped, or if the paintings went for less than they usually do.

An Asian elephant’s back arches, rather than dipping like that of an African elephant. Their spine sticks out visibly making it uncomfortable, if not detrimental, to wear a saddle. Humans may be just a fraction of an elephant’s weight, but the shape matters more than the weight. The elephant riding business is highly profitable, so it’s easy to overlook the elephant’s wellbeing.

Elephants in riding camps are trained from birth or capture to fear certain humans and objects, abused into submission so the tourists don’t see anything wrong. Babies born in camps are often separated from mothers, causing trauma for both elephants. They are worked until exhaustion in the sun, while in nature they would have the coverage of trees. Once they’re fatigued to the point of collapse, they’re given drugs to keep them working. It’s easy to get injured as an elephant being neglected and abused, but as long as the elephant is alive, it will work. An elephant with a broken leg can still be worked for a full day despite obvious pain. Many vets in Thailand have made their services free for elephants, the national symbol of Thailand, but the camp and elephant owners seldom allow them to check an elephant in case they hear something they don’t want to. This is an object without a right to be sick or hurt.

Male elephant in FAE elephant hospital coming from a camp. He will be returned if he recovers

Due to recent deforestation, there is not enough space in the forests of Thailand for all captive elephants to be reintegrated back into the wild. An alternative is elephant sanctuaries which mimic their natural environment, but these sanctuaries would need government support, and as long as elephant camps are still alive and kicking, the government has no incentive to support this project. Not all camps are terrible, but the real sanctuaries are few and far between and more often tourists find camps masquerading as sanctuaries to draw in paying customers. There’s much work to be done, mainly through organizations and government policy, but the first step is boycotting abuse.