The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary has numerous locations throughout the country. However, its flagship branch is located in Chiang Mai. The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary works tirelessly to promote respect for the Asian elephant, ethical treatment of elephants and awareness about issues related to irresponsible tourism practices.
The sanctuary is home to over 30 elephants who have been rescued from abuse. The elephants are lovingly cared for at the sanctuary. For an additional immersive cultural experience, you can overnight in a local Karen village. During this immersive cultural experience, visitors dress in traditional attire so they do not distract the elephants with unfamiliar smells. Visitors can feed bananas to the elephants, give them a mud bath and cool off with them in the stream. Prepare to get soaked, as elephants tend to like to squirt you with water from their trucks.
Phang Nga Elephant Park is a small family-run park, dedicated to elephant conservation and education. Here, guests learn about Asian elephants and watch them roam in their natural environment. Visitors can choose between a half-day and a full-day tour, with the full day including a bonus hands-on Thai cooking class. Walk alongside your new friends, take them for a swim in the river and get to know the local mahouts.
Even 'shoulder riding'—the traditional riding technique used by mahouts traditional elephant drivers —is now discouraged by animal welfare groups. Then there's the issue of the methods used to train working elephants. Young elephants are caged, beaten and goaded with metal bull-hooks to persuade them to submit to carrying passengers.
Even fully trained captive elephants are sometimes hobbled with chains to prevent them escaping or harming tourists. With a growing tourist backlash, many elephant camps have abandoned elephant rides in favor of less intrusive ways to engage with elephants.
Rides have been replaced by elephant-led walks, and elephant shows have been replaced by gentler interactions such as feeding elephants with fruit and helping at elephant bath-time in rivers and ponds. Many camps have abandoned chains entirely, allowing captive elephants to form their own family groups, in large, open enclosures such as those found at wildlife parks. While this is a step forwards, some animal welfare experts encourage tourists to go further, avoiding experiences that involve getting close to elephants, because of the techniques used to train elephants to accept human interaction.
There's a valid argument for not supporting any kind of interactive elephant tourism but the situation is complex. Captive elephants are unable to return to the wild, and they need to be fed, exercised and given medical treatment, placing a huge financial burden on their mahouts.
Many people from rural communities in Thailand are financially dependent on elephant tourism, and without the income tourists provide, elephants face being abandoned to starve or sold to unregulated zoos or logging companies in neighboring countries. During Thailand's Covid lockdown, hundreds of captive elephants have been sold or abandoned, with owners unable to cover the cost of their upkeep due to the lack of tourist revenue.
Around mahouts and other camp staff have lost their jobs, and some of the camps that led the way in promoting good elephant welfare practice are now scraping by on bank loans and donations from concerned tourists. More than 80 camps have closed completely. It's a powerful demonstration of the fine line that tourism can tread between causing benefit and harm. At the outset of the pandemic, many camps sent elephants and their mahouts back home—often to Surin, a region in eastern Thailand where elephants are bred, bought, and sold , or to hill tribe villages in the north—only to find after years away that landscape changes make it more challenging now to keep elephants safe.
The Department of Livestock Development, the government agency that oversees captive elephants in Thailand, has provided tons of hay to elephant camps in 22 Thai provinces since July , says agency veterinarian Sasi Jaroenpoj. That would be enough to feed a dozen elephants for 72 days.
But Thailand has nearly 4, elephants living in captivity. For her part, Chailert has already begun helping camps grow their own grasses for desperately needed elephant feed. I never felt this much pressure on my heart. And of course I have to pay money back to the bank somehow, but I do have hope and strength still. Wildlife Watch is an investigative reporting project between National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners focusing on wildlife crime and exploitation.
Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to NGP. WildlifeWatch natgeo. All rights reserved. Animals Wildlife Watch. Formerly a traditional riding camp, it has been transformed during the pandemic to be more elephant-friendly. But caring for elephants without any income from tourism has plunged owner Anchalee Kalmapijit into staggering debt.
Share Tweet Email. Read This Next In this Thai village, life revolves around captive elephants. Animals Wildlife Watch In this Thai village, life revolves around captive elephants In Ban Ta Klang, people live alongside the elephants they raise and train for tourism. That said, riding an elephant bareback is unforgettable. Chiang Mai visitors of all ages are sure to remember this experience for the rest of their lives. Contact us to learn more. To ride or not to ride: The truth about elephant riding in Thailand To ride or not to ride: The truth about elephant riding in Thailand You love elephants.
Howdahs are heavy, weighing as much as pounds, and when combined with the weight of a human can cause spinal injury and blistering that leads to infection.
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