How to Have a Ethical Elephant Experience in SE Asia
Arriving in Laos, we knew we wanted to hang out with the elephants.
We’d swum with Whale Sharks, Manta Rays and Turtles… now it was time for a land adventure with another giant gentle creature.
We weren’t quite sure what to expect until we started looking around. We did know however, we wanted elephant welfare was first and foremost.
We found a load of places doing ‘elephant tourism and riding’ which was of no interest to us. We wanted a truly ethical elephant experience.
For many travellers a trip to Asia wouldn’t be complete without a meeting the region’s most famed residents, the Majestic Asian Elephant. It’s easy to book a tour and get an elephant experience, but for those concerned with animal welfare it isn’t as simple as that.
Tourism can be both a threat and an opportunity, in caring for and protecting the magnificent creatures. Many tourist operations are pretty much ‘greenwashed’ meaning they say all the right things. They appear ethical and responsible, but when it comes to doing, they actually don’t.
In Laos, it’s definitely hard to find a place that doesn’t exploit the elephants with riding and mass tourism abuse, but there is a couple.
I love my life wandering through the mud at Mandalao Elephant Sanctuary..
Obviously the very best way to see elephants is in the wild. Not only will you see elephants in their own habitat displaying their natural behaviours, but you can be sure you are not contributing to mistreatment.
However if you want to see domesticated elephants in Asia it’s important to do your research if you want a “ethical elephant experience”.
Elephants in Asia
Asian elephants have been an important part of human life in Asia for 4000 years. Elephants are symbols of wisdom in Asian cultures because of their excellent memory and high intelligence.
We can learn so much from the wisdom of the elephant. Like Grandma her wisdom increases as she ages and her brain never stops growing. The herds are always led by the female Matriarch and she’s the boss and the herd always follow her lead. The males typically live alone together in the wild with other males.
The matriarch and her family.
Sadly today with drastically reduced populations, Asian Elephants are on the endangered species list.
Their main threats are loss of habitat, conflict with humans, mass tourism, poaching and capture of wild elephants for illegal logging.
Although the loss of their habitat from logging actually became their saviour, they were needed in the logging and now with logging illegal, their habitat is regenerating.
Ethical and responsible tourism is also playing a part in saving these wonderful animals.
Elephants and Tourism
The elephant “tourism industry” in Asia has been immensely successful, due to the sheer number of tourists who want to ride elephants and watch them perform tricks.
Maybe if you’re reading this you don’t know how elephants come to perform like this.
Taming these beautiful animals to preform tricks and unnatural behavior is accomplished through phajaan or ‘crushing’ – the traditional torture training method that includes confinement, chaining, forced starvation, beatings from a bullhook to break the spirit of the elephant during infancy.
I cringed even writing those words.
This physical and psychological trauma is often overlooked by the many tourists passing through elephant riding camps as the abuse happens behind the scenes.
Riding these gentle giants remains high on most travellers’ wish lists but, the unfortunate truth is, cruel practices are used to tame these wild creatures to allow riding.
Like you, tourists wanting to see these wonderful creatures up close are not usually driven by a wish to hurt them; ironically it’s usually a lack of awareness and a love of elephants!
Elephants are wild animals and a wild animal should not be subjected to cruelty for human enjoyment.
Never choose a camp that encourages elephant riding, shows or other unnatural interactions or any place that takes elephants from the wild must also be avoided.
Instead, make a conscious choice to spend time with elephants in a way, which lets them live as much of a natural life as possible.
Daily walking in the Jungle…
The industry can change – but only when tourists do.
Yet while tourism has given elephants and their mahouts a new kind of lifeline after logging has been banned, there are no laws or guidelines nor penalties for abuse and no measures in place to avoid mistreatment.
Many tourists still choose to visit parks where the animals are mistreated because they simply don’t know they are being mistreated or they don’t understand that riding an elephant is harmful.
While tourism may have gone some way to protecting elephants in camps or sanctuaries, it’s a fine line between elephant welfare and human enjoyment.
A documentary called An Elephant Never Forgets explains more about the mistreatment of elephants in Southeast Asia, but be warned that it shows disturbing footage of animal abuse.
How can you Interact with Elephants in an Ethical way?
Everyone loves Elephants – right? Then what could be more joyful than interacting with these magnificent animals by playing, walking, washing or simply helping them heal?
Bananas please… no need to peel, I’ll eat the lot – said the Elephant
We were lucky to find MandaLao in Luang Prabang, Laos – a conservation and community minded company with a grand vision for both elephants and Laos.
Just splash me anywhere – I love it!
Their respect, understanding and passion shone through from the minute we met them and their elephants.
So what should you do?
The most ethical elephant sanctuaries are those which aim to rehabilitate abandoned animals and return them to the wild when/if possible.
Support organizations that rescue elephants from illegal logging camps and abusive tourist attractions/elephants shows, and are committed to caring for them in an ethical and conscious manner.
Many offer opportunities where you can bathe, feed and walk with an elephant who lives happily and in harmony with the environment.
You can find out more about what to look for in an ethical Sanctuary here:
http://www.earsasia.org/guide-to-camps
Laos and Thailand Sanctuaries
In Thailand there are quite a few options where tourists can meet elephants that have been rescued from cruelty and live in harmony but in Laos we only found two.
- MandaLao, a conservation and community minded company in Luang Prabang, with a grand vision for both elephants and the world. Their respect, understanding and passion shone through from the time we met them and their elephants.
- The Elephant Conservation Centre in Sayaboury near the Nam Pouy National Park. While we never visited this place we understand they also care for elephants in a responsible and sustainable way and provide visitors with a multi day discovery or volunteering experience.
You can also find many ethical sanctuaries in Thailand here – http://www.earsasia.org/elephant-camps of which the most well known one is the Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai.
The Choice is Yours…
It’s tourist demand for ‘elephant rides’ and ‘circus acts’ that leads to more baby elephants getting captured from their mothers, tortured, and then sold off to entertain.
Most people who participate in elephant tourism in Thailand are completely unaware of how they are treated behind the scenes.
