Humans and elephants share a complicated history — how we can make right our wrongs?
WORLD ELEPHANT DAY is around the corner. And in recognition of this important date, it’s important we shed light on the ways humans and elephants are intertwined.
While elephants play an important role in many cultures, such as Hinduism, which ascribes a sacredness to elephants, there is an unfortunate dark side to the ways in which humans intersect with elephants — which is often marred by mistreatment.
Thailand has nearly 4,000 elephants in captive camps, with thousands more like them across Southeast Asia. These camps sacrifice an elephant’s wellbeing for the sake of spectacle. Behind the selfies and shows is a cruel subterfuge, exploiting elephants for profit.
This form of wildlife tourism results in elephant suffering, starting at a young age and continuing for decades. In Thailand’s Ban Tan Klang, otherwise known as Elephant Village, elephants are trained and traded after they have been separated from their mothers. This process is called Phajaan, a traumatic way of breaking an elephant’s spirit through the deprivation of food and water, excessive confinement, and fear-based training with metal bullhooks. It is a process so severe and so suppressive, elephant mothers and their young are no longer able to recognize each other once completed.
Although laws exist in protecting wild elephants, captive elephants remain able to be bred, traded and used for tourism. Knowing the truths behind these industries, as well as preserving and defining elephant rights is an essential part of elephant conservation.
Luckily, there are organizations doing just that. And you can help them — donate now to help save our ENDANGERED elephants.
