What is the truth behind "the tour guide was trampled to death by an elephant"?

Recently, the news that a 35-year-old Chongqing team leader was trampled to death by an elephant in the elephant camp of the Golden Triangle Fruit Garden in chonburi province, Thailand, made people feel sad and sorry, and at the same time, it also made people rethink the issue of animal contact during travel.

He said that he rode an elephant in an elephant camp in Thailand for filming, and he was scared by the elephant trainer's elephant hook. "At that time, the screams of elephants were the loudest, most painful and most horrible sounds I have ever heard in my life." He was so shocked that he forgot to make a video.

There have been frequent elephant abuse scandals in Southeast Asia and South Asia in recent years, especially in Thailand. It is reported that the number of elephants engaged in "tourism" in Thailand alone is twice that in other Southeast Asian countries.

Riding an elephant is a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience data map that many people long for.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WAP) launched an anti-bullfighting campaign in 50 countries, including France and Spain, and spent two years visiting 220 places in Asia where elephants are kept. Their research report shows that the living conditions of three-quarters of captive elephants in Asia are not satisfactory. Of the 2,823 elephants recorded in Asian tourism, 2 198 are in Thailand. Followed by India 6 17, followed by Sri Lanka 166, Nepal 147, Laos 59 and Cambodia 36.

The report also said: "When elephants are not riding horses or performing, they are often tied by chains more than two meters long all day and all night. They are confined to a narrow concrete space and lack reasonable diet and medical examination. "

In Thailand, there are only eight places where elephants are kept, which are rated as "good" by WAP staff and 1 14 as "poor". On this issue, Dr. Jan Schmidt Berbach, a WAP worker based in Thailand and a senior wildlife consultant of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said, "Tourists have the ability to change the living conditions of captive elephants. They only need to vote with their feet and choose institutions that mainly observe animals, rather than institutions that mainly promote interaction with animals. "

He also said: "Generally speaking, if you can ride a wild animal, or even hug and take photos with it, the story behind it is already cruel-you just don't know it."

Elephants in Thailand began to emerge in the field of tourism and entertainment in the1990s. At that time, the authorities banned elephants from logging. Elephant owners claimed that it was too expensive to feed elephants, and they wanted to find new profit points. An elephant eats 180 kg of feed every day, which is equivalent to $30. Paradoxically, the profits generated by tourism feed elephants to some extent.

Driven by propaganda and travel agencies, many tourists who are keen on punching in are eager for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of "riding an elephant". Imagine that a monster weighing 4 tons and nearly 3 meters high is under you, clever and obedient, and it is completely understandable to yearn for it without knowing the details.

But have you ever wondered why elephants are so obedient? In Thailand, there is a special word for elephant training called Phajaan, English crush, which can be interpreted as conquest or destruction in Chinese, and its original meaning is "crushing". So what is to be conquered and shattered? It's an elephant, no, it's the will and body of a baby elephant.

In Thailand, there is a special word for elephant training called Phajaan?

This is a stylized means and process: just a few months after birth, the baby elephant is taken away and isolated from its mother. They will be placed in a Xiao Mu cage to stand. The elephant trainer will prepare mace and ankus for it. It will be hit by a mace, starve and restrict sleep. The cutting edge of the elephant hook must be very sharp to pierce the thick skin of the elephant. We must "destroy" the elephant mentally and physically and make it obedient in the future training process.

Don't fantasize that wild elephants have a good temper. Elephants are not born to ride unless they are trained by Phajaan at an early age. All elephants that can ride must be trained by this demon, without exception.

Why don't elephants look painful when carrying people, riding bicycles, juggling and even painting, and even have a connection with human hearts? Many tourists admit that during the elephant riding trip, the scenery is pleasant, elephants will drink water, rest and feed, and the elephant trainer will talk to them softly, which makes people feel that elephants have not been abused. However, cruel data show that the life span of wild elephants is 70 years, while that of riding elephants is generally only 30-40 years.

An animal welfare organization conducted a survey among 13000 people in 14 countries around the world, and the results showed that:

1. One third of the people who witnessed the abuse of wild animals on vacation said they could accept it or ignore it.

2. Half of the people who have participated in entertainment projects suspected of abusing wild animals said that the reason for their participation was "loving animals", or they didn't think this behavior was "cruel".

In addition, people often have different views on different wild animals:

1, 68% people think swimming with dolphins is acceptable.

2.53% people think riding an elephant is acceptable.

3.35% people think it is acceptable to take photos with tigers.

Most of these judgments are based on people's ignorance of the growth story and training process behind wild animals in the "leisure entertainment circle".

Tigers photographed with humans are usually kept in small cages, often starving and punished in order to make them docile. Dolphins swimming with humans will become angry and depressed because of the small space and loneliness.

An elephant that has been "trained" for riding.

Then the question is coming. Can you avoid cruelty to animals by visiting "elephant orphanages" in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa?

The elephant orphanage was originally designed to protect and take care of elephants who were abused by tourism and logging, as well as elephants who lost their mothers. The famous Navila Elephant Orphanage was established in Sri Lanka on 1975. Because it is located between Colombo and the historic city of Kandy, many tourists will punch in, and many can take pictures of elephants bathing in the river. Through the spread of social networks, "elephants bathing in the river" quickly became popular. Tourism bloggers and online celebrities frequently take pictures of phenomenon bathing, mud rivers set off by tropical vegetation, and rough-skinned elephants enjoying leisurely daytime bathing, which seems to be the unique beautiful scene of Eden.

However, behind this photo, most people don't know that the elephants in the river are wearing chains on their feet. In order to make tourists take more wonderful photos, some elephants are also ordered to squat in the water and will be punished by being hit when they get up. According to an unannounced survey by the Born Free Foundation, in Navila Elephant Orphanage, a lonely elephant is often locked on a stone or a board, probably because the male elephant is very angry during estrus (from the Vedic Sanskrit motor) and is often locked for several weeks. The newborn elephant in the orphanage has no good result. It is known that one elephant fell to the ground and died, and the other was thrown to the ground by his mother shortly after birth.

However, according to the survey, even though the elephant tamers in Navila Elephant Orphanage will let tourists touch the elephants and earn tips with elephant hooks, the situation here is much better than the elephant performance in Colombo Zoo.

In the Navira Elephant Orphanage, the living conditions of elephants bathing in the river are not as "natural" as they seem?

Born Free Foundation recommended another elephant sanctuary in Sri Lanka, Udawarawi National Park. Based on:

1. It is only open to tourists for three hours every day. Visitors should keep their distance from elephants when watching them eat on a separate platform, and don't touch them.

When the keepers of national parks need to convey instructions, they use thin sticks instead of elephant hooks.

3. Orphan elephants will try to be wild when they are raised to a certain extent, with the ultimate goal of being released into the wild.

Operators of tourism, starting from the pursuit of profits, also try to encourage camps that improve the living environment of elephants and take better care of them by market means. Buffalo Tours, an inbound travel agency in Southeast Asia, launched a survey on 20 15 to rate the institutions that keep elephants, and accordingly recommended the institutions that keep elephants in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and other places 12. Those with poor scores were not included in the cooperation list of travel agencies. The credibility of this rating and recommendation catalogue remains to be tested, but promoting market means of responsible travel may be another way.

The Navira Elephant Orphanage captured by tourists is suspected to be an elephant trainer, taking photos of tourists with elephant hooks.

For tourists who love wildlife, the only activity that meets the ethical standards is field observation. Don't be confused by place names, and don't be influenced by the product promotion of travel companies. The criteria for judging whether captive institutions mistreat elephants are not complicated: whether there are animal performances, whether riding and stroking are allowed, whether elephants are allowed to stay for a long time to take pictures of tourists, and whether elephant hooks are used. Feeding and bathing elephants is the limit of human contact with elephants.

In short, when traveling, you have the opportunity to get in touch with wild animals, and you should also keep a Buddhist heart. On the premise of ensuring your own safety, you can see that it is fate, just don't touch or ride. Your freedom should not be an invisible accomplice to depriving animals of their freedom.