IS IT EVER OK TO RIDE AN ELEPHANT?

*All photos were taken by the talented James de la Cloche of DLC Photo Tours*

*I advise you read this post in its entirety before commenting because most people are ill informed on this topic*

To be honest this is a blog post I’ve gone back and forth about posting. This topic is so controversial and no matter what I write or believe I am still going to piss some people off. Although I’ve done a lot of research, there really isn’t enough research done on “riding an elephant” to know if it truly causes them any stress or pain, some specialists believe it does and others don’t. So, these are just my opinions after doing my own research. This post isn’t going to clearly answer the question “Is it ok to ride an elephant?” But instead, I will explain all I know so far about this topic and if you do decide to ride an elephant the best way and place to do so. I personally believe the way I rode an elephant was in an ethical way but I also know most places you can ride elephants in Thailand aren’t offering it in an ethical way.

DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO RIDE AN ELEPHANT?

Absolutely not. Seven years ago the Medieval Fair came to Norman, OK and there was an elephant you could ride. In my little unaware brain, I was ecstatic to ride and be so close to my favorite animal. I went to get on him and saw the mahout(elephant caretaker) screaming at him threatening him with the bullhook. I felt the elephant’s energy change, told the guy he was an asshole and left with friends while my now ex-boyfriend and his friends made fun of me for years for crying about the whole situation. At that moment I promised myself I would never ride an elephant.

Fast forward seven years and I am a whole different person. Well traveled, cultured and still against riding elephants but everything changed when I met Seavoy at Chai Lai Orchid. I always wanted to be around elephants and essentially engage in elephant tourism but in my head, if I wasn’t riding an elephant then it was fine, but that isn’t always true. After spending a week at Chai Lai Orchid I learned so much about ethical elephant tourism and what that looks like. If you want to learn more about elephant tourism in Thailand and the difference between an elephant sanctuary and elephant lodge click the link to read my post about my week at The Chai Lai Orchid.

LET’S START WITH THE FACTS

I learned the most from the staff at the Chai Lai Orchid and the Asian Captive Elephant Working Group(ACEWG). This group is a task force established just a few years ago and its members include elephant specialists, scientists, conservationists, and camp managers from multiple elephant camps/lodges. Their main goal is to establish a strategy and long-term plan for improving the management systems within elephant tourist camps. This group was a big part in banning the use of elephants in circus’ around the world because it’s been proven that walking a tightrope, riding a bicycle, or doing headstands brings a lot of pain to the elephant.

DO YOU CAUSE THE ELEPHANT PAIN WHEN YOU RIDE IT?

Many posts that you read regarding how terrible it is to ride an elephant talk a lot about how elephants are broken down and abused by camp owners when the elephants are first born. These posts also claim that wild elephants don’t naturally offer rides to humans so it shouldn’t be allowed. Although I do agree with that, yes you can’t just jump on an elephant in the wild, elephants and humans have been working hand in hand for over 4,000 years.

So yes, many elephants are treated terribly but what about the elephants that have been rescued from these terrible camps and have now found a happy life at the Chai Lai Orchid and actually enjoy spending time with humans? But when it comes to actual pain when you are on it….

I did a ton of research for five days while I spent time with Seavoy prior to riding her. The ACEWG notes that “while veracious studies have not been conducted on elephants specifically, it is known that horses, dogs, and donkeys have a weight-carrying capacity of about 20-to-25 percent of their body weight.”

So for Seavoy at almost 7,000 pounds, that’s around 1400 pounds. Chai Lai Orchid claims that riding an elephant bareback is ok but chair rides are unsafe for elephants. The chairs, already heavy, can carry up to three people, and all that weight is placed on a vulnerable point of the elephant’s spine. Added to that, grit and dirt can get trapped between the chair and the elephant’s skin, causing painful sores.

WHAT CHANGED YOUR MIND?

I didn’t know The Chai Lai Orchid offered elephant rides until I arrived. When I first heard it I was taken back because once again, I wasn’t informed on what ethical elephant tourism looked like. Alexa, the owner of the lodge and her staff did an excellent job explaining to me that they’ve worked with many specialists and these specific specialists, believe that it doesn’t cause the elephant pain or stress. The staff started to explain to me the similarities to riding a horse or donkey and after learning all these things, I had a different perspective on it but I still didn’t think I’d ride one.

Then I had a photoshoot with Seavoy and we were about to play in the water and although Seavoy usually loves it, she just wasn’t up for it that day. We were about to finish up but then she put her head down next to me. It wasn’t until the exact moment that Seavoy’s mahout said: “She’s signaling it’s ok if you want to get on her.” Of course, I wanted to but I was so nervous and still didn’t feel confident if it was humane or not. This was literally me asking Seavoy if it was really ok if I got on her because it was going against everything I had believed in the past seven years.

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Pabo just kept reassuring me, “She likes it, she’s smiling.”

IF YOU DECIDE TO, RIDE SOMEWHERE DO IT WHERE IT IS DONE ETHICALLY, LIKE THE CHAI LAI ORCHID ECO LODGE.

Here is a paragraph I found online quoting the ACEWG,

“Despite the waning popularity of elephant riding among Western tourists, the demand for elephant rides in Thailand has surged in recent years, driven by an influx of Chinese tourists. “People are coming in on package tours, and they’re looking for the cheapest-possible experience,” says John Roberts, co-chair of the ACEWG and the director of Elephants and Conservation Activities for the GTAEF. “This is provided for them by exploitative camps that let people ride the elephants for 10-to-12 hours straight, with no rest during the day and no forest time at night. The situation is horrific, and yet these camps are growing massively. At the same time, people who do care about animal welfare are avoiding elephant riding altogether because they’ve been told it’s a bad idea. So camps that were doing good things, like allowing elephants to give rides just three or four hours a day and spending the rest of the time up in a forest, are going out of business. They can’t make enough money to keep their elephants, so they send them to the bad trekking camps a kilometer away.”

Click the link to learn more about the Chai Lai Orchids approach to helping the elephant’s in Thailand.

The funniest part was getting off of Seavoy. Even though it felt like hours, I was really only on her for about ten minutes. Once Pabo started commanding her to let me down she just started to aimlessly walk around the river and didn’t let me off! Of course, I loved it because I fell in love with her and never wanted to get off, but once she finally let me it was quite comical. I felt bad for her mahout, Pabo, because you can see he’s just laughing at me as my crotch is just in his face.

WOULD YOU EVER RIDE AN ELEPHANT AGAIN?

This is a question I’ve been trying to answer for almost three months now. When I think back to the experience and how incredible it was to hug Seavoy and be on her, of course, I want to do it again. But, I also think I’d like to wait until there is more research before doing it again! We all make excuses for what we did was ok and although I am still arguing back and forth with myself if what I did was ok I feel much more confident after speaking with The Chai Lai Orchid staff and spending time with Seavoy for a week before I got on her.

If you are interested in elephant tourism and are looking for the perfect place to engage in it I couldn’t recommend The Chai Lai Orchid Eco Lodge more, click the link to learn more about my experience here and their approach to helping Thai Elephants. Also, click the link to learn more about my experiences in Thailand.