Give Them Room To Be

A new wave of exploitative elephant activities across Asia is sparking concern among animal advocates, who are urging travellers to rethink itineraries.

- Marissa Carruthers

JEMMA BULLOCK IS FRESH FROM A MISSION in eastern Cambodia’s jungle-clad Mondulkiri province. A busy high season has seen tourists visit daily to enjoy an elephant feeding experience. After two months of being plied with sugarcane, an older female became severely constipated and collapsed. It took three days of medical care to get her back on her feet.

“The injury stemmed from tourism, and we’re seeing a lot more cases like this across Asia,” says Bullock, programme manager at Mondulkiribased NGO Elephant Livelihood Initiative Environment (ELIE). She notes a shiftin elephant tourism. While steering away from the cruelty associated with activities such as trekking and shows, practices are still not acceptable.

“Many travellers are now educated about the ramifications of elephant trekking and performances,” she says. This has given birth to a raft of interactive activities ranging from swimming with elephants and giving them mud baths, to snapping a selfie with young babies. “Activities like these still involve the elephant being highly controlled.”

Asia’s connection with elephants runs deep. There are rich cultural and religious ties, while the more pliant nature of the native species – Elephas maximus indicus – has seen their strength utilised in industries such as timber and agriculture. This is one factor that gave rise to Thailand’s elephant tourism more than two decades ago. As the government started dismantling the timber industry, more than 3,000 elephants became jobless. Mahouts were forced to seek alternative ways to make money and turned to the rising tide of tourists in the 1990s.