The elephant tourism industry is commonly associated with cruelty and is considered a threat to the existence of the creatures. Exploiting elephants for entertainment purposes in the tourism industry is prevalent in Asian countries and thousands of elephants used for entertainment purposes are treated cruelly and abused.
Between November 2014 and May 2016, a study was conducted by World Animal Protection (WAP), a non-profit animal welfare organisation, and it evaluated nearly 3000 elephants across 220 tourist places in Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal and Sri Lanka and India. They found that there were only 200 elephants living in decent captive states and these were areas where there were no tourism activities that involved direct interaction with humans such as riding of elephants and circus performances. Essentially, more than three quarters of the elephants were suffering in “severely cruel” conditions.
However, upon researching on the elephant tourism scene in Sumatra, I found out about the concept of eco-tourism which refers to tourism supporting conservation efforts. In 2001, an ecotourism site called Tangkahan Tourism Institute was established. Tangkahan is a small village located in the Langkat district of Northern Sumatra and it mainly runs eco-tourism activities such as elephant trekking. It is also known as the hidden paradise of the Gunung Leuser National Park.
There are 7 trained elephants at Tangkahan and they were once “trouble” elephants that raided crops and destroyed fields and property in nearby villages. There was a Conservation Response Unit (CRU) set up there, comprising of a team of Sumatran elephants along with their mahouts (elephant trainers or keepers). The elephants mainly serve to protect the National Park from illegal activities such as logging and animal poaching, and they may also be used to usher the wild elephants away from areas with high population density, to lower risks of human death in elephant stampedes. In the process, the CRU also defends the villages and people and also other elephants in the wild. They do this by patrolling the area.
“Our main function is to protect the National park of Leuser Mountain and the elephants play an important role in eco-tourism on our patrols twice a week,”
– Abdullah Hamid, an elephant mahout and an unofficial park ranger.
Elephant tourism activities include short jungle treks on the elephants and since 2004, the Tangkahan CRU shifted the focus of its operations from patrolling of the jungles to ecotourism. The captive elephants now interact with tourists for up to six days per week and one day would be for patrol.
Although the elephants in Tangkahan are guided to engage in operations that are beneficial ultimately to the conservation of the Sumatran elephants, the question of whether or not using the elephants for rides for tourism purposes is ethical or not is still highly debatable.
This is because riding on elephant’s backs could cause long-term physical harm to them. Although they might look sturdy enough to handle the weight of humans, when elephants are subjected to the weight of humans on their backs, their spines possibly suffer damage. Their skin also gets worn out due to the equipment they wear such as saddles for people to sit on. They might also suffer wounds from bullhooks used by their mahouts. Moreover, the elephants are instinctively wild animals and have not been domesticated through long-term captive breeding.