Elephant conservation volunteering in Thailand

The ethics of elephant tourism

With logging now illegal – though it still goes on in many places and remains a major threat to wildlife habitats – many elephant mahouts, often trained since childhood and forming lifelong bonds with their charges, instead looked to tourism and entertainment for their earnings. An elephant can consume up to 130kg of food every day - they're not cheap to look after! Elephant and other wildlife shows are still very popular among visitors to Thailand, and they involve painfully forcing the elephants to learn unnatural behaviours and using chains to tie them up. This is not to say that the elephants had it any easier when they were used for logging, of course. They would be brutally ‘crushed’ in pens and tormented with poles tipped with spikes to break their will, worked hard and at constant risk of serious injury such as from falls or dropped logs. With illegal logging, there is also evidence that elephants are fed amphetamines to keep them working as much as possible.

Riding elephants is another big no-no, as it causes them physical harm. Remember, elephants are never domesticated, they are captive wild animals, even those born in captivity. This means they must be broken in and controlled in order for them to work, be around humans and give rides, a horrific process that involves breaking their spirit.