Thailand: elephant lovers or not?

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o start with such a bold title means that my motives must be quickly explained. I am not trying to preach, I am not looking to blame nor am I looking for you to overlook the many human rights problems in the world to help only elephants; my only aim in this article is to inform.

In June this year, I took part in a week-long volunteering programme in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Like most visitors to Thailand, I noticed the supposed respect that the Thai locals had for elephants, with various elephant statues, branding and even an elephant on the Siam flag. The Thai people depict elephants as knowledgeable, royal and lucky animals.

Is this why, in many countries, the elephants let people ride them, walk along busy city streets with them, and do circus tricks or even paint (as the BBC showed in 2010) because the elephants feel this respect from the Thai people? I’m afraid to say it is not.

Henry Crosby

If at any point an elephant is in a public open space (i.e. not in the wild or in captivity), with a person or people (usually known as a Mahout or elephant trainer), then that elephant would have gone through some form of submissive training. This stands for everywhere in the world. It is not in the nature of an elephant to let people ride them.

Elephants are aggressive, territorial, protective, wild animals, but if they are obeying the controls of any human then that elephant would definitely have gone through a horrendous and brutal training programme, which in Thailand is called ‘the crush’, in order to make them submissive. In Thailand and Burma this lasts for around three weeks, 24/7, and involves being chained in a small wooden cage and being beaten, blinded and abused by their Mahouts who will ‘care’ for them for the rest of their lives. This is generally done with the intention of using the elephant for tourism, logging or breeding. Videos are available on-line, however they are definitely not for the faint-hearted to watch.

Elephants are aggressive, territorial, protective, wild animals. If they are obeying the controls of any human then that elephant would have gone through a horrendous and brutal training programme in order to make them submissive

At the beginning of the 20^th Century there were over 100,000 elephants in Thailand and there are now only an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 left, with half of these elephants working for people. With that in mind, and the fact that the University of Warwick attracts the next masterminds of Britain, influencing our government, media, private industry, universities and future generations, it is vital that we know what happens out there around the world.

Henry Crosby

One specific example of the horrific life that many elephants endure in Thailand is that of Meadow. I first met Meadow at Chiang Mai’s ‘Elephant Nature Park’. Meadow’s working role was to move logs through a forest for her Mahout. One day Meadow had an accident and broke her back left leg. At this point, her Mahout decided that she was useless as a logging elephant and therefore he could make more money from her future offspring, so forced her to mate.

The Mahout did this by tying her to a tree and then introducing her to a male elephant who immediately mounted her. Despite her limited mobility she tried to fight him off. Male elephants can be very aggressive by nature and over a two-three day period he forced himself upon her and beat her to the point where one of her hips was broken beyond repair.

It’s not all bad news though!Meadow now rests safely in Chiang Mai’s Elephant Nature Park which is run by the most kind-hearted and brave person I have ever met, Lek. Lek is famous amongst Thai and Burmese Mahouts and Thai government for her strong beliefs towards human and animal equality.

It was a real pleasure to meet her and hear about her journey from the first elephant she rescued to now running a sanctuary for 40 elephants. Her project has been around since the 1990s and aims to provide a sanctuary to abused elephants to retire gracefully and happily.

At the beginning of the 20^th Century there were over 100,000 elephants in Thailand and there are now only an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 left

The staff’s latest efforts to train the elephants is through positive conditioning. Although this is not ideal, as it means the elephants are still under the control of humans, it is a step in the right direction in giving the elephants an element of choice. Lek makes it clear that the Mahouts that beat their elephants are not cruel people, they are merely uneducated in the ways of animal training.

She is realistic that unless an animal rights law is passed in Thailand, elephant tourism is too influential in Thailand’s economy to be completely wiped, so she needs to find a way to change the treatment rather than eradicate it.

I urge you to take action in the same way Lek asked us to…simply pass this on. She does not want protests, violence, or angry letters, she simply wishes for more people to know.

If, after reading this, you feel that you want to help these beautiful, intelligent and majestic animals (as well as having the best week’s holiday you could wish for) then why not check out the ENP website for volunteering programmes. Whilst you are there, you will be not only helping out by collecting food for the elephants, feeding them and bathing them but you will also have the opportunity to eat great food, learn more about Thailand, the individual elephants and the park. Finally, if you’re lucky, you might get a royal visit from the inspirational one and only Lek.

For more information, visit www.elephantnaturepark.org