The Gray Area of Elephant Tourism
Before getting into this complex topic, I want to start with a disclaimer. The management of elephants in captivity is challenging, to say the least. This blog post is purely a recount of my observations and thoughts after visiting four elephant camps in Pai, Thailand, and specifically centered around two elephants in particular. I am in no way speaking for the larger population of Thai elephants or Asian elephants as a whole, as management of elephants differs greatly by region and country. I wholeheartedly believe that when possible, elephants should be free of all physical shackles and restraints that inhibit a life of freedom and autonomy. Luckily, many sanctuaries are able to achieve this, and I urge everyone who is considering visiting elephants to seek out a sanctuary that believes in a hands off experience. This allows the elephants to express their natural behaviors and in turn are home to some of the most psychologically sound and healthy elephants. Chaining is not and should never be a long term solution to managing elephants and instead should only be utilized when absolutely necessary. Additionally, I don’t have all of the answers and I’ll never pretend like I do. This blog post is just my honest thoughts after a day where I felt I gained a lot of insight and perspective. I hope nobody misunderstands or takes this post as me implying elephants on chains is a wonderful thing, but instead sees that sometimes it is a necessary precaution and should not be stigmatized as it only makes the lives of the elephants and those caring for them more difficult.
While traveling around Pai (located in Northern Thailand) this past week, I had the opportunity to visit some elephant camps. I have since been thinking a lot about how to present the information I learned and the photos/videos I took in a way that would not only point you toward more hands off ways of viewing elephants but also help everyone to see elephant tourism/handling/care as a scale, more so than seeing it as black and white.
I was able to observe eight elephants at four different camps in Pai, where their singular purpose is for tourism to profit their owners. While welfare is not the primary focus in this kind of environment, these camps were in no way horrific, the elephants were in decent body condition (if anything, they were overweight), there were no elephants with open wounds, and all of the camp owners and mahouts I interacted with were welcoming and friendly. It is also important to mention that region plays a major role in the treatment and welfare of elephants. Pai is very different from other popular elephant tourism areas such as Chiang Mai and Surin. In Pai, there is less land available to elephant camps and therefore when driving around the camps you will see the elephants right next to the roads (making them easy to track down, which increases tourism). However, with it being a smaller city, the camps are not as busy and the condition of the elephants is often better than some other regions. There are definitely good and bad factors at play here, but before we get into any of that, I want to define what I mean when I say the elephant is “stereotyping” or showing a “stereotypical behavior”.
What is “Stereotypy”
The term stereotypy describes behaviors seen in captive wildlife that are abnormal (aka wouldn’t be seen in the wild). These behaviors often come about due to lack of stimulation (barren or inadequate environment), strict schedule of feeding or the restriction of food, inability to socialize, close contact with humans, harsh training methods or treatment, etc. and are used as a coping mechanism for stress. These are behaviors that an individual uses to reduce their stress; a good human example would be biting nails, fiddling with hair, pacing, tapping feet, etc. Observing stereotypes is a great way to assess psychological welfare as it can often point to stress triggers and be a way for an animal to communicate what they need.
However, it is not exclusive to trekking camps to have elephants stereotyping. Harsh domination-based training methods of elephants often creates these habits early on in their lives. These behaviors likely will stick with the elephant for life, but can be managed to make the individual feel safe and stress free. It is not uncommon to see elephants in some of the best sanctuaries in the world stereotyping. This is not because they are not being treated well and have not been able to regain their autonomy and self-determination, it is because they may have been triggered by something in their environment. The key to alleviating these symptoms of trauma and stress is to take a good look at what that elephant wants and needs, as well as allowing them a life of less human interaction and reducing the harmful tourism practices in their lives. Managing stereotypy is something that is lifelong and is not a linear process.
Chain/Chain-Free Elephants
Something I found to be very interesting during my time in Pai, was the use of chains as tools in these camps. Due to how close the elephants were to the main road, the majority of the elephants I observed were chained by one foot (chains were between 1-3 meters in length). Although I admittedly do not like seeing elephants chained (who really does), especially on short chains that inhibit their ability to move and express certain behaviors, I learned something that was both eye opening and surprising. Of the eight elephants I had the opportunity to spend time with, two of them were not chained. These two elephants showed the worst stereotyping I have seen… the only two that were chain-free seemed to carry the heaviest psychological “chains”. I observed these two elephants swaying, bobbing their heads, pacing back and forth, repetitively stepping forward and backwards, aggressively flicking their trunks at me and the mahouts (seen in the video above), swinging their trunks and vocalizing. This went on consistently for the entirety of the time I was at the camp (about 1 hour).
In the media and throughout elephant tourism “chain-free” has become such a buzzword. Camps market themselves as being chain-free to give the impression to tourists that they are treating their elephants well; however, I’ve come to learn that it just isn’t that simple, it isn’t that black and white. When managing such intelligent, sentient, emotional beings, nothing is truly simple. What works for one elephant may not work for another and definitely won’t work for a third. These are individuals, all with their own triggers and preferences. What makes one elephant feel safe may be a major source of aggression for another.
Again, I am not advocating to chain up elephants (or any animal for that matter). I am and will always advocate for treating animals as the individual’s they are, being perceptive to the way they are able to communicate with us and listening to their needs. When we step back and listen to the needs of these complex individuals, we are able to more clearly see that an elephant who has been chained most their life may see their chain as a safety net, and if they do, who are we to take that away simply to appease the human eye, to look “less cruel”, while really just putting the public perception before the stress of the elephant in their living space. We’ve broken these elephants down, chained them up, forced them to be comfortable with their new lives serving humans, and standby as they develop stereotypical behaviors to cope. We force them to be comfortable with this lifestyle, and too often we then force them to overnight be comfortable being free of all restrictions, and wonder why captive management is difficult. Reteaching individuals to be comfortable with freedom takes time, and by not allowing an elephant to ease into a new environment, we put human and elephant lives at risk. The chain is not to be used as a weapon and form of punishment, but as a tool that allows facilities to ensure that safety and healing are the priorities.
Many of the elephants I observed in Pai were not stereotyping, were eating at their will and were completely unbothered by my presence, all while being on a chain in a less than ideal enclosure by the road. Others were severely stereotyping, were triggered by my presence, and were highly stressed, all while being chain free in a less than ideal enclosure by the road. This truly made me realize that yes, it is hard to see elephants chained, but it’s even harder to see them losing their minds because they do not know what to do or how to be elephants when chain free. What would happen if these individuals were to be put on a chain in their enclosures? I cannot pretend to know the answer to that, but it does make me question the reason these elephants are chain free. Is it to reduce the stress and improve the welfare of the individual or is it to attract tourists who are disturbed by seeing a chain around an elephants foot?
Elephant with a hole in her trunk, from what looks like a machete wound.
Where do we go from here?
This time with the elephants has taught me to look more closely at the things I perceive as “bad” and not just think outside the box, but get rid of the boxes I’ve created and be ok with the fact that this complex situation has a complex solution. There is so much gray area to consider and when we remove the stigma we put on certain actions that we view as innately bad, we are able to see the complexity more clearly. My advice for anyone who is now unsure how to approach an encounter with wildlife is to take everything into account. Where are you visiting? What activities are you allowed to do with the animals? Where do they stay during the day and during the night? Do they have access to food and water? Why are they there? If an elephant is on a chain, why is it chained? These are all questions you can (and should) ask any facilities you visit! Never stop questioning the things that are too often seen as normal. If you show up at an elephant camp and come to find that they ride the elephants, use harsh training or are hurting their animals, just ask them if you can instead give them some food, walk with them, just stand back and watch them and take photos of them. This plants a seed for these camp owners, this shows them that welfare is a major concern and there are people who will still come just to be in the presence of elephants. If you are looking for a sanctuary to visit, I think its important to reach out beforehand, see how transparent they are with their management, and be weary of facilities that are making blanket statements because that often means they are managing every individual the same way, which may not be benefiting the elephant.
Elephants certainly do not belong in captivity, and are very difficult to manage, luckily there are a number of facilities that are doing their best to care for those that have been mistreated and cannot be released. However, this is not an easy feat and certainly does not have a “one management fits all” solution.
The elephants I visited in Pai were not able to exercise autonomy, they were standing on concrete all day and could not express natural behaviors as they should. Additionally, natural behaviors such as foraging all day and bathing themselves is inhibited by humans feeling as though they should be involved in such behaviors. However, the power to change the living conditions of wildlife such as these elephants is in the hands of you, the consumer. Those who put a great photo above a life of freedom for a wild animal are perpetually ensuring that these elephants remain in a captive environment that is not conducive for mental health. I know I probably say this in every blog post, but the things we financially support in this world are what will thrive. By being more conscious consumers, change will happen!
Two elephants with their owner at a trekking camp.
I know this is a tough topic, but the purpose of bringing it to everyones attention is to encourage you to question the labels that are placed on things such as chains. Things that are seen as an indicator of negative welfare and that we so often assume are used to hurt the elephants. Yes, there are many examples of facilities using chains as weapons, but I hope you can now see how they can be used as tools in elephant care as well.
As always, if you have any questions or comments feel free to drop them below or email me directly! And if you want to see more photos and videos of the elephants I visited in Pai, head to my Instagram or Facebook.