This is no life for an elephant. More than 3,000 elephants were used as entertainers across Asia, before the coronavirus pandemic. Now we have a chance to end elephants’ suffering by demanding that the tourism industry change for the better.
Don't get taken for a ride
Around the world, thousands of elephants have been abused for the entertainment of tourists. And they still are, despite travel bans.
Captive elephants endure physical and psychological suffering to make them submissive enough to be used for performing, riding, bathing, and other tourist interactions. The demand from tourism drives the demand for elephant experiences, and trainers are forced to deploy cruel methods. It is a lifetime of elephant suffering for a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ holiday experience.
Every elephant used for tourism is subjected to a brutal training process known as “the crush”. To break their spirit, they are torn from their mothers, isolated, chained, starved and beaten until they are submissive for tourists. And the cruelty doesn’t stop there. Elephants are controlled with fear and pain, so they'll perform and take people on their backs.
Don’t make your next long-awaited “dream holiday” an elephant’s nightmare. Many tourists have ridden elephants or visited elephant attractions because they love these beautiful animals. The awful truth behind the treatment of elephants is hidden from sight. But this can change.
You can help by taking the pledge not to ride an elephant on your next overseas holiday. You’ll also help us convince travel companies and tour operators that elephant cruelty is no longer profitable.
You can stand up for elephants by taking our elephant-friendly pledge.
And together we can make the demand for cruel elephant attractions a thing of the past.
A life entertaining tourists is no life for a wild animal
The demand for wildlife holiday experiences has been driving the cruel animal entertainment industry for years. Together, we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to stop that demand and rebuild the industry for the better.
Pledge to stand with World Animal Protection in asking the travel industry to end the exploitation of wildlife and promise to not visit attractions that use wild animals for entertainment. Let elephants live free from cruelty forever.
With your support we are showing the industry there is a different way. By raising awareness about the hidden cruelty behind elephant rides and shows, we are helping people make informed choices and putting pressure on the travel industry to rebuild for the better.
The good news is that globally the elephant-friendly movement is growing with more than 250 travel companies having committed to stop selling tickets to elephant rides and shows before the pandemic.
For most captive elephants, being released back into the wild is not possible, so an elephant-friendly venue is their best option. Elephants are given the freedom to roam, graze and bathe while socialising, rather than being used for strenuous rides, kept in chains during the day and exposed to the sun all day.
Together, with some of the world’s most influential travel companies, we worked to transition two venues in Thailand to become elephant-friendly attractions. This has shown that there is an elephant-friendly way to be commercially viable for elephant camp owners, encouraging them to value and care for their animals.
An elephant-friendly venue allows observational activities only with no direct interaction between humans and elephants.
Right now, we are working with many more elephant venues in Thailand to have them reopen as elephant-friendly venues when large numbers of tourists are able to return.
Together, we can work towards a better world and towards giving elephants lives worth living. Elephants don’t belong to us; they belong in the wild.
