A dung beetle is not only the worlds strongest insect but also the strongest animal on the planet compared to body weight. I say likely, because while scientists have yet to devise a way to accurately ask large number of horses how they feel about being ridden, there has been research done that looks at horse preferences as it relates to ridden work. 4-6 tons. !
Save up your money, make a journey to a place that truly respects nature.
And save the Asian elephant.
, Planning a trip to Thailand and this article was unable to sway me to remove Elephant Riding from my bucket list. The end of the tail is nearly flat, making it the perfect fly swatter.
There are maybe about 60 elephants that belong to places that do not give rides. I have seen how poorly Elephants have been treated in Thailand - and it's appalling. So, while the zoo may not have hurt this animal, investigations have proven that, at some point, this animal (wherever it was before your zoo), has been broken in order to entertain.
Also while your zoo may be an exception to the rule in regards to abuse can you address the footage that has been released showing animal caretakers in zoos stretching elephants legs with chains and electric prods to train them?
This article was never intended to discuss the pros and cons of riding an elephant. Having tourists on their back causes physical damage to the elephant, especially given the number of tourists one elephant is carrying a day in many of the major elephant camps. For a 6,600-pound elephant, thats at least 1,320 pounds. Usually the babies are taken only which involves shooting both the mother and the nanny. It is nearly impossible for an elephant to have enough food or water without the use of its trunk. Haters gon' hate, Gangers gon' gang. 1. He first responded via email asking me if I worked for Elephant Nature Park or Boon Loot's Elephant Sanctuary. Me and my boyfriend are travelling to SEA shortly and he said to me he wanted to ride an elephant, we ended up arguing about whether or not it harms them as i have read really horrific stuff about what these amazing animals go through. However, I don't feel the need to write a blog about it "
. Bug bites that make them incredibly itchy. She states that an elephant giving rides is equivalent to a human carrying around 50 pounds (22.9 kgs approx) for 9 hours. Elephant Nearly half of the captive Asian elephants in Thailand are registered to five or six villages in the Surin province, and this is where the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation has focused much of its attention: by renting its elephants instead of buying them, it provides jobs to both mammal and mahout; by bringing in full-time veterinary care; and by working to improve the education of the village youth. The breaking period is torture and it's done to animals that are endangered. yeah ok. ignorant fvcks. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Text AIRLINE to 73822 to urge Hi Fly to stop transporting monkeys for labs where they will be tortured and killed! Wow. PETA Leads the Charge: Inside the Global Effort to Take Down Exotic Skins, PETAs Years-Long Legal Battle Over Lolita the Orca Finally Wraps as Plans for Her Release Come to Fruition, Why San Antonio Aquarium Keeps Racking Up USDA Citations. In fact maybe the majority are. cracked and bleeding. I think of people knew the anatomy of the elephant was what caused them so much pain/damage then people might understand more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjGcb1_KizY&feature=player_embedded
I greatly appreciate all of the feedback from this article. It might change your mind about riding bareback on an elephant. Is riding an elephant Over this time baby elephants are starved, shackled, and beaten until their spirit is completely broken and will submit to the will of their captors. Go do yours. I checked into this article mainly because I know of all the horrors of Elephant abuse in Thailand, I know much about the traditional (and religiously linked) treatments the mahouts use to domesticate and train the elephants from birth and it has always disgusted me. I have been working for the Prakochaban elephant foundation in Ayutthaya Thailand for over 6 years. Elephants spines cannot support the weight of people and doing so all day can lead to permanent spinal injuries. For most of those 4,000 years, elephants were captured in the jungles and broken by mahouts, or trainers. This is horrible. Elephants. The bond between horse and rider in many cases is incredible and trust is involved. Why? And yes, the average big fat
clueless tourist is very heavy, and they and the heavy benches they sit on are very
bad for elephants' backs. 7. If staying uninformed helps you sleep better at night, good for you.
As for you taking issue with the bull hook, there are a large number of spots on an elephant that are extremely sensitive. What do you think about Elefantastic in Jaipur India? Elephant Horses are generally strong enough to carry more than 300 pounds on their back, pull a load three times their weight, and bite with a force as heavy as 500 pounds per square inch. She even gave you links earlier in the comments. So its a sad reality that thousands of elephants live in captivity. Be sure to follow PETA on TripAdvisor for tips on ways you can be kind to animals when you travel. good luck. It can also be a sign of financial stability. I just love animals! Elephants in captivity are denied everything that gives their life meaning. I turned down the elephant ride on offer in Pai, Thailand for the same reasons. Myself, the author of this article and many others would like to believe that we now live in an age where issues such as how we develop, how we treat animals, ecosystems, environments etc. Your racial argument makes no sense. I think you may be wound up a little too tight. If a tour operator offers anything other thanspending time with elephants, you should avoid it. Web13. Who shot them, when and where? Elephants may be enormous, but they have not been bred to be ridden. THE TURTLE AND ELEPHANT - AND THE "FLAT EARTH Their venom is not the most potent among venomous snakes, but the amount of neurotoxin they can deliver in a single biteup to two-tenths of a fluid ounceis enough to kill 20 people, or even an elephant. The GTAEF, which is supported by Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort and Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, both in Chiang Rai, Thailand, strives to uphold the highest standard of care for its elephants. I agree some parts of rodeo ( calf roping ) the same calf over and over bothers me and their should be guidelines. At the same time, people who do care about animal welfare are avoiding elephant riding altogether because theyve been told its a bad idea. I am so happy I read this before my trip. "These bony protrusions and the tissue protecting them are vulnerable to weight and pressure coming from above.". 9 Big Reasons Why Elephant Rides Are Bad for Animals Same-sex couples in Nepal said on Friday they were preparing to register their marriages after the Supreme Court issued a temporary order clearing the way for gay Not bad for 3 weeks work. If you do that, everything is fine. Riding Sadly, most travel writers report on the joys of riding an elephant and not the harm those actions cause the animal. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/07/opinion/la-ed-elephant-20110907. Riding Elephants in Thailand: The Hard One of the elephants rescued in Thailand suffered curvature to its back from years of transporting tourists. More than 100 other travel companies have followed suit. Are baby elephants abused? According to World Animal Protection, Between 2010 and 2016 in Thailand alone, 17 fatalities and 21 serious injuries to people by captive elephants were reported in the media. Thais are the ones recording the hidden camera footage of the abuse. Luckily, some places that previously provided these painful rides are starting to transform their practices. This clunky contraption rubs ontheir backs, causing blisters thatcan becomeinfected. Group Size: Limited to a total of 12 full day visitors per day, so book early and expect spots to fill up far in advance. Spiritually, these animals carry a lot of physical energy, related to the 1st-3rd chakras, which are all about survival, identity, empowerment, physical health, manifestation, obstacles in life, and being grounded.. Other than the physical chakras, elephant dreams can also bring themes A happy and content person is far more functional and pro-active as opposed to one that's under stress and harassment,.apply this analogy to your work environment for understanding what I'm trying to say.
Having blabbered all of this, I have not ridden anything else besides a horse on a social outing viewing game/wildlife and on private moments in the bedroom a good ol shag..lol..I should also admit that I perhaps may give this a try at least once so as to broaden my knowledge based on first hand experience
Last note: Please accept my apologies to any that I may have offended in my contribution! Their mission is to protect & care for mistreated elephants rescued from the tourism and logging industries. How devastating. I took my girl horseback riding 2 years ago and she was the happiest I've ever seen. Elephants are a symbol of strength and power, wisdom, intelligence, family and loyalty. Just to clarify, this article is very true about captive elephants in THAILAND. I know who you are. You may own primates, elephants, camels, wolves, ostriches, alpacas, zebras, non-domesticated felines, and many other animals without a permit or license. And keeping dogs as pets (many people own more than one) has no relevance in the argument about elephants being social animals. Dung Beetle. The science is sound: elephants can often barely survive in zoos, let alone thrive. Many people think that elephant riding is harmless and that the elephants seem to like it they dont. An elephant can carry up to 25%2 of its body weight without causing any discomfort or pressure to its body or spine. Love It 1. There is a lot of money to be made. I fight for the horses having to pull their carriages in NYC and have had arguments with people in other countries when I see the poor horses dragging their carriages and the last thing I want to do is do the same with an elephant. There are further complications from having a chair (howdah) attached to their backs. it's unfair stereotyping. Yes, a ride is part of the day, but there is no ride without education, during which the elephant handlers "size up" participants in order to match them to the most compatible elephant. rev2023.7.3.43523. For the Asian Elephant, the primary cause of this is habitat loss. In addition, people have told me that they felt horrible after riding, citing the elephants lack of life and its physical appearance as quite troublesome. So believe what you want but facts and mathematics dont lie. Get over yourselves, the world is not perfect and your not making a difference.
To see an elephant getting killed is a bad sign that entails financial troubles. To say that the elephants wouldn't be alive without tourism ignores the fact that we have driven these animals to near extinction in the first place. the best thing you can do as a concerned outsider is contribute financially to the International Elephant Foundation (International Elephant Foundation.org), an organization that devotes nearly 100% of the proceeds it receives to conservation efforts for all elephants both domestically (US) and abroad. It is possible to train wild animals in a humane way. Roberts also has a theory that a lot of mahouts know their profession is coming to an end. Elephant Sanctuaries Be honest. The reason is either overloading or uneven loading on either sides of the elephant back. It is neither right or wrong. Maybe you should get a gun and shoot them all now.
Or do you think they if they are not making money they will suddenly find endless funds to pay for their elephants food and care in a magic box? Be an Elephant-Friendly Tourist in There are further complications from having a chair (howdah) attached to their backs. I think the more we discuss these issues, the more likely we are to achieve the same ends without being a party to the cruelty that currently goes along with them. When there are so few elephants left in Thailand, how do you expect them to survive into the future if they are not bred now? I hope the admin doesn't mind but my blog is called www.elephantsinthailand.org. All rights reserved. The chair alone is around 80 pounds. I went on an elephant rude in Laos, it was at an elephant protection centre, instead of sitting on the howdah we just sit on the elephant. Nociceptors have also been found in elephants along with the central nervous system structures thought to be implicated in the processing and interpretation of pain information. I am ashamed to say that I have ridden on an elephant in Thailand a couple of years ago and only wished that I had seen this article back then or conducted my own research. These elephants, at some point, were NOT domestic. I asked Elefantastic about how they raise their young elephants, about their breaking in process, and whether the weight of passengers was considered, and asked for general thoughts. Diana you asked me a lot of questions but answered none of mine! WebI'm pretty sure the elephant handlers will say the same of their elephants. The process is called Phajaan, or the crush. As the author of this article, I wanted to take a moment to respond to some of the comments questioning the story and arguing that riding an elephant is something people should do, even after reading the arguments against it.
I was never on the debate team, so Im going to try to address certain peoples comments as best I can.
NATALIE: I admit, the backpacking comparison probably wasnt the best way to illustrate my point about the impact people have riding on an elephants back. Elephants spines cannot support the weight of people and doing so all day can lead to permanent spinal injuries. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Nick's main point is that this message about the poor treatment of elephants is overgeneralisation. They can pull 1,141 times their own body weight. Starting the Prompt Design Site: A New Home in our Stack Exchange Neighborhood, Statement from SO: June 5, 2023 Moderator Action. Interacting with the animals is one of the countrys major tourism draws, and a new organization is trying to make it more humane. Honestly, 52 elephants born over 12 years is nothing impressive. Cultural depictions of elephants There are plenty of well-documented stories online that deal with the prods, particularly as it relates to training them outside of Thailand (like for circuses and rides in America, for example). Here are a number of other wildlifeexperiences you should avoid on your next adventure. No, I haven't either, but common sense dictates that cruel treatment is likely to be more common than kind - simply because of what I said earlier - previously, this is been the norm due to the prevalence of a different moral code regarding the treatment of animals. But I feel like it goes for any animal that they would be able to carry an additional 2% on their backs. By supporting tourist operations like trekking camps and circuses you are supporting the capture of wild elephants and the future extinction of the species in the wild.
People will never think that their ride can cause health problems in elephants in a long run. The author thinks that surely all elephants have been tortured in order to achieve compliance, but he also is totally willing to grant that in the training of horses that's not required at all. Is the difference between additive groups and multiplicative groups just a matter of notation? Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Guy And Wild Shark Have Been Best Friends For Decades. That is the finding of a major study of how forest elephants deal with oil exploration in central Africa. Look at her here: https://www.facebook.com/FreeMali. If the working hours are limited and the terrain is suitable, two people in a saddle (less than 10 percent of the elephants body weight) will not be an undue stressor for an elephant, the organization reports. And while I will have an experience to remember, the elephant will simply have a rather unremarkable stroll through its natural habitat. Just another ploy by the white man to try and put down a second/third world country. Regardless of this, however, it is important to realize that these elephants have been tortured to become domestic. For most, it's simply a lack of awareness. Only the most sociable elephants are used for these close encounters, while elephants that dont like strangers can simply join the camps free-roaming pack. Roberts is also a realist; he recognizes that most camps are not backed by luxury hotel chains and therefore rely on quantity over quality to pay their bills. I was told that the elephants had been saved from torture but now I feel awful for being so naive. The elephants are treated very well & they only open their gates to a handful of tourists a day, in fact there are more elephants than there are people. Many travelers have reported seeingelephants swaying, pacing and bobbing their heads at trekking camps signs of serious psychological stress. Elephants are the worlds largest and most powerful land animals, so its not surprising they have a profound impact on the ecosystem. Using our national symbol as a tool for profit and entertainment is a disgrace. This is the act of breaking a young elephants spirit. Enough bashing the animal rights activists, we are doing the right thing for those who are suffering. I don't want to bother going into details becuse essentially the entire article is inaccurate. They are extremely intelligent, sensitive, and loving. Its This is cruelty.. It takes 3 people to lift this so I agree the weight on the elephants back is tremendous. I am sick to my stomach remembering how they repeatedly hit the elephants with a bull hook to control them. What Can You Do To Help Save Our Planet's Coral Reefs? This must be one of the worst and most misinformed articles I have ever read on travel. They deprive elephants of medical care also. This is provided for them by exploitative camps that let people ride the elephants for 10-to-12 hours straight, with no rest during the day and no forest time at night.
. Really a good article. I was taught how to feed her by hand, then brushed and bathed her in the shallow river, followed by a 30 minute bareback ride through the forest to a deep lagoon, where the elephants submerged themselves to laze in the cool mountain water. here https://www.letsdiskuss.com/what-is-the-biggest-cruelty-of-human-beings-towards-other-animals. Some of these groups are honest, but there's also a lot of corrupt charities too. to comment 44, that's great that you know of good camps and promote them. With some elephants weighing 4,000kg (3), its hard to believe that a human weighing 2% of that weight can do any damage to it. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Elephant crushing, or a training crush, is a method by which wild elephants can be tamed for domestication, using restriction in a cage, sometimes with the use of corporal punishment or negative reinforcement. Funny Elephant Bitch Please I Am Fabulous Meme Picture. They are bad, too. Please fill out the form below if you need assistance. I was just at an elephant camp for 2 days and never once saw the the mahouts use a stick, let alone a metal prod. i'm not blaming those people who are out there trying to survive, i'm just saying to you all again - face reality.
i say, ride them, wash them, and feed them, AND care about their plight. To boil the issue down to a single questionTo ride or not to ride?misses the bigger picture; its like stamping out an ember when the whole house is on fire. Are there any reasons not to have built-in constants? If they don't exist, clearly there is a unique business opportunity in Thailand to provide them.
The whole too much weight argument is ridiculous and could be applied to all animals. She is like a prisoner, who cannot spend her days with her friends, roam in vast territories, and have delicious adequate food! Your article was so awakening for me. Most captive elephants die decades short of their normal lifespan. Be an artist, writer, politician, designer, etc. Over this time baby elephants are starved, shackled, and beaten until their spirit is completely broken and will submit to the will of their captors. Just go to Elephant Nature Park and enjoy watching these wonderful creatures, learn their histories, appreciate it all. But, before I share that, let me say this -- I have worked with and am still working with elephants. That's false and you shouldn't be saying that. This fear can trigger a reaction that can not only hurt the elephants but also the riders. Many babies doe in the crush particularly from tetanus from the metal hooks they are beaten with. There are further complications from havinga chair (howdah) attached to their backs. When it comes to riding the animals, for instance, under the Travelife standard the elephant is allowed to carry only 10 percent of its body weight with one or two riders, no saddle or a light one mounted over its shoulders, and in a natural setting thats easy on an elephants feet, where it can forage along the way. The male elephant would be carrying the average human equivalent of 1.125kgs on his back.
With regard to the average weight of a female elephant being 2700kgs, the human weight of 75kgs would equal to 2.8% of the female elephants weight . And always inquire about the camps policies on training: Is it using positive reinforcement to control the elephants, and, if so, how does that work? So in order to tame a wild elephant, it is tortured as a baby to completely break its spirit. Young elephants aretaken from their mothers andconfined to a small place,then abused with bullhooks and bamboo sticks spiked with nails. That being said, it may seem like the bullhook is not being used that forcefully by the mahout, but what we you don't see is how violently the bullhook is used during the Pajaan training that makes the elephant fearful of its use. You might want to spend a little time at Maesi Elephant Camp outside of Chiang Mai or other camps in Thailand. Buy 3 Get 15% Off & Free Shipping- Bodysuit Shapewear - touchtoin, Buy 3 Get 15% Off & Free Shipping- Bodysuit Shapewear - Morals-style.mo, Buy 3 Get 15% Off & Free Shipping- Bodysuit Shapewear - morals-style. The fact of the matter is these animals are wild when they are born. But if tourists knew what elephants endured for their vacation photos, they would hit deleteon both the pictures and the industry. Dreaming about an elephant in water: Elephants in water often represent good time, peace, harmony, and abundance. This practice is condemned by a variety of animal-welfare groups as a form of animal cruelty. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Who won the Academy Award for best movie in 1939? Not bad for 3 weeks work. Researchers have found that elephants who are subjected to this breaking or Nice blog and thanks for broaching a good topic.
In a perfect world it would be great for all elephants to be wild. Is there a weight limit to ride on the Elephants Abuse, which I am against in all cases ( breaks their spirit) but many people spend countless hrs working with their horse. And, an elephants skin ranges from very thin to an inch thick. No elephant riding required to make good money off of tourists
And for everyone claiming "white or 1st world guilt", this park was started by a Thai woman. Funny Elephant Complains Meme Image. When no tourists are present, the elephants are tied up to wait. They use their trunks to pick up objects, trumpet warnings, greet other elephants, or suck up water for drinking or bathing, among other uses. Let's hope responsible tourism will soon take over.
, Whilst I agree with some of this post, I think part of it is a little extreme. Sitting atop its back as the giant animal slowly meandersalong a white sand beach, orthrough rushing streams in the thick of the jungle. Their backs were not meant for people to ride them. How would you like to be deprived of everything that makes you comfortable so you can be someone's slave? Thanks for writing this post. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Once fully trained, elephants used for riding will need to carry at least one person on its back, either on a blanket or saddle, but often with no padding at all. You honestly value the lives of animals above your fellow man and it is a joke. I've always refused to ride an elephant, it's horrible how they are treated, how they are left chained waiting for the next ride.
