by joyce pepos
Time to reflect on our journey in Chiang Rai’s Anantara Elephant Camp…Is it possible to create sustainable animal tourism that benefits both man and nature?
The biggest driving force in the conservation of any species is education. For us, educating ourselves about the situation for Asian elephants was key. Millions of tourists come to Thailand each year and most want an experience with elephants during their stay. Many unknowingly give their money to tourist camps that do not look after their elephants. We did a bit of homework before our trip and discovered the Anantara Elephant Camp – a camp that puts elephant welfare first.
Despite all the work with captive elephants, Anantara elephant foundation firmly believes that an elephant’s true place is in the wild. There are a lot of people out there who believe every elephant should be free — we too believe that, but will this happen overnight?
The tourism industry may be a viable alternative but it can be a tricky one, because there is always a risk of exploitation when animals and commercialization meet.
The Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival Foundation says it ‘believes responsible elephant tourism can help to save the elephants throughout Asia but only if camps maintain the highest level of elephant care, food requirements, hygiene and environmental enrichment’.
The experiences we had of riding on the neck of an elephant, bathing the elephants, feeding them, learning the process of a Vet check and interacting with our own personal elephants for five days will be something we will never forget. Immediately, the elephants became embedded in our hearts. We feel that the experience of simply touching an elephant – like horses, elephants liked to be stroked – and being close to one of these beautiful giants was just as amazing as riding them, if not more so.
There is divided opinion about riding elephants. It’s a debate that often goes back to cultural differences and economic realities. If we lived in an ideal world, then there would be no riding at all. For us, just hanging out with the elephants was an incredible experience in itself. We do realize that elephants that are already domesticated (3,500 elephants in captivity in Thailand) need to be supported and often this is done through tourism of riding them.
So if you want to do it as ethically as possible, then consider finding a substantial elephant camp like the camp we visited - this camp works alongside Anantara’s Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation that rescues elephants from the circus, the streets and illegal logging – the camp supports 25 elephants and 60 people. The elephants have the upmost care!
The least harmful experience for the elephant, and the best for you too, is to ride on its neck (behind the ears) NOT on a trekking chair which goes on the elephant’s back. A fully-grown elephant can carry up to 330 pounds on its back, but when you consider the weight of two people, the chair (it’s called a Howdah or saddle and alone can weigh 220 pounds or more) and the mahout (who rides on the neck) you can see how this starts to be a heavy burden on the elephant. Watch out for operators at trekking camps who overwork their elephants and leave the chairs on all day, this is unacceptable. In addition to the weight, the elephants can also be at risk of developing sores from where the trekking chairs are positioned on their backs and where they are attached – usually under their tail and legs.
The Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival Foundation says it ‘believes responsible elephant tourism can help to save the elephants throughout Asia but only if camps maintain the highest level of elephant care, food requirements, hygiene and environmental enrichment’.
We feel compelled to share this and ask that you make informed decisions about which sort of elephant attraction to visit and what sort of interaction you have with elephants in Thailand and SE Asia.
These beautiful giants are amazing – we fell in love with them!