I am headed to India, and as I fasten my seatbelt and prepare to sit and relax, I open a magazine that promises to show me the wonders of Incredible India.
As I browsed the magazine, I read about the majestic Taj Mahal and how accesible it is to visit it nowadays. Few pages after, in the same magazine I discovered a picture of an elephant completely ornamented and ready to carry a family of three on its back for what promises to be a memorable family adventure. I cannot help to wonder how can we be so ingenious and so cruel at the same time?
There is nothing natural about this set up. You can call it culture, tradition, etc but I can assure you that there is no elephant that would rather be forced to carry tourists for fun.
Elephants are amongst the most intelligent and social animals in our planet. They live in groups lead by a matriarch who holds the knowledge that the herd needs to survive. They communicate with each other and mourn their own. The oldest roads of Africa, are the ones that generations of elephants have drawn in search of water and food.
Still, we are mesmerized by their ability to paint, carry us or even write their “names”. As a mother, I love the possibility of experiencing the natural world first hand with my family. In the end, who doesn’t want to cuddle a baby elephant or a lion cub? We all want to feel closer, connected, but it is our responsibility to care and to chose right.
I learned this the hard way. In 2013 I went to Luang Prabang, Laos and visited an elephant “sanctuary”. I was excited to learn about how this place was rescuing elephants that had been abused by the logging and tourism industries and nursed back to health and freedom. I expected to find open land and happy elephants being elephants.
At first it looked just like that... a river, some jungle and space and I thought, the world is finally going in the right direction...As I got closer (a clear sign that they are not free, as elephants have incredible memories and tend to avoid humans after they have been mistreated) I noticed that the “caregivers” were holding bullhooks (long poles with a sharp metal hook). Clearly the word sanctuary was nothing but a misleading marketing tool. Since then, I vowed to protect elephants for as long as I am in this planet.
As tourist demand from ethical experiences with animals has grown, affordable establishments often called sanctuaries, manage to convince tourists that bathing elephants or feeding them bananas is somehow humane or respectful. The truth is, elephants getting baths, being fed or giving rides, had to be broken to make them obedient.
In Thailand for instance, there is a town called Elephant Village where is not uncommon to see houses with elephants chained to trees. Elephant calves as young as two months old, are broken and trained to be sold to tourist attractions. This is not an isolated case. Today in Thailand there are over 3’800 elephants in captivity.
As we move forward and information is more available, we must do everything in our power to stop this vicious cycle. You have the power to choose not to support these practices. If you are reading this article you probably love nature and want to choose wisely. Figuring out how to observe wild animals humanly can be challenging, but there are well defined standards that you can refer to during your research:
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst: Look for facilities where animals appear to be well fed and have access to clean water at all times.
2. Freedom from discomfort: Observe that animals have space and shelter, including resting areas where they can rest away from the crowds.
3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease: Avoid facilities where animals are mistreated or hurt to perform any sort of activity.
4. Freedom to express normal behavior: Think wether that animal would be painting, posing, etc if it had the opportunity to be free (even one born in captivity)
5. Freedom from fear and distress: Fear-based training is inhuman. It includes separation of babies from their mothers, exposure to crowds and threats of punishment.
“There comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness. That time is now...” Wangari Maathai
For more information, please visit natgeo.com/wildlifetourism
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