{"id":178,"date":"2024-07-19T21:40:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T21:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2checkingout.com\/?page_id=178"},"modified":"2024-07-21T03:18:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T03:18:31","slug":"riding-an-elephant","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/2checkingout.com\/?page_id=178","title":{"rendered":"Want to Ride an Elephant? How to Choose an Ethical Alternative and Why"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Want To Ride An Elephant? How To Choose An Ethical Alternative And Why.<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What\u2019s on your bucket list? See the northern lights in Iceland? Trek to Machu Picchu? Swim with dolphins in Mexico? Ride an elephant in Thailand?\u00a0<\/p>

Everyone has a list. Whether it’s stored in the back of your brain or pinned on the fridge with ticks against it.<\/p>

But do we take the time to check if our dreams are actually ethical? Most people who want to swim with dolphins or ride an elephant want to do so because they love animals. But many don’t realise that their once-in-a-lifetime experience is anything but that for the elephant or the dolphin.<\/p>

I’ve been there. I didn’t know better. I do now. Knowledge is a powerful thing as they say. This article is to give you knowledge and power to make an ethical choice when picking an elephant experience for your bucket list.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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So Exactly What Does Ethical Mean?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Many Trip Advisor reviewers rave about their elephant experience. How the elephants ‘seemed’ happy. But the well hidden secret of elephant tourism, and that includes circuses, zoos, trekking camps, shows and street begging, is ‘the crush’.\u00a0 Have you ever wondered how one small man can make an enormous elephant paint a picture, stand on its head or allow people to ride on its back? \u00a0<\/p>

The answer is something called the crush<\/strong>, or Phajaan<\/strong> in Thailand. Other countries have different names but the process is the same.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

The vast majority of elephants you see in elephant tourism have experienced it. Stolen from its mother in the wild, the baby elephant aged three to six years old is confined in a small wooden frame no bigger than its body. Where it will be shackled by chains or ropes.\u00a0 Where it will be beaten with a bamboo stick with nails in it. Where it will be bludgeoned with a bull hook (imagine an ice pick with a wooden handle). Where it will be deprived of food and water. For at least a week. Until its spirit literally breaks. Until it no longer recognises its mother. And its mother doesn’t recognise it.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ethical tourism, also called responsible tourism, it means thinking about the consequences of your actions as a tourist on the environment, local people and local economy. Not only thinking about it, but acting on it. We have a choice on how, when, and where we spend our tourist dollars. \u00a0<\/p>

When it comes to elephants, it means choosing an experience which allows the elephant to exhibit its natural behaviour in a safe and non-threatening environment. It means the elephant has access to food, water, shade and dust or mud.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why Does It Matter?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Many Trip Advisor reviewers rave about their elephant experience. How the elephants ‘seemed’ happy. But the well hidden secret of elephant tourism, and that includes circuses, zoos, trekking camps, shows and street begging, is ‘the crush’.\u00a0 Have you ever wondered how one small man can make an enormous elephant paint a picture, stand on its head or allow people to ride on its back? \u00a0<\/p>

The answer is something called the crush, or Phajaan in Thailand. Other countries have different names but the process is the same.\u00a0 The vast majority of elephants you see in elephant tourism have experienced it. Stolen from its mother in the wild, the baby elephant aged three to six years old is confined in a small wooden frame no bigger than its body. Where it will be shackled by chains or ropes.\u00a0 Where it will be beaten with a bamboo stick with nails in it. Where it will be bludgeoned with a bull hook (imagine an ice pick with a wooden handle). Where it will be deprived of food and water. For at least a week. Until its spirit literally breaks. Until it no longer recognises its mother. And its mother doesn’t recognise it.\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The baby elephant is now ready for training. This again can be brutal, particularly when training an elephant to do something very unnatural, such as painting or circus tricks.<\/p>

Heartbreaking isn’t it? I have tears in my eyes just writing this. I was sobbing when I saw a YouTube video of a crush. It’s not something you would imagine. But it happens to almost every single elephant you see at a circus, in a zoo, in a trekking camp or at an elephant show.<\/p>

But don’t despair, you can still have an amazing once-in-a-lifetime elephant experience which is ethical for the elephant too.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How To Choose An Ethical Elephant Experience\n\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Truly Wild Experience<\/em>\u00a0<\/h3>

The most ethical of all experiences is to watch wild elephants in their natural habitat. Elephants who have never experienced the crush. You will feel a vibrant energy from them. The ‘wildness’ I guess. There is nothing quite like it when a giant bull elephant strides straight towards your jeep as you beat an adrenal-charged retreat!<\/p>

When choosing this kind of experience:<\/p>