What is the bullhook (or ankus)?
Handlers rely on the bullhook (left), a rod with a sharpened metal tip, to maintain control of an elephant and to protect themselves. An elephant is taught to associate the bullhook with pain by being restrained and beaten and stabbed with the device. Although portrayed as a benign tool by handlers, the bullhook is a source of pain and fear for elephants. At the same time, it provides a false sense of security as a bullhook cannot stop an elephant.
Why are harmful training methods used?
Interactions cannot take place, and generate profits, unless elephants are under strict control. Harmful training practices are considered necessary to minimize risk of injury or death to people around them. As long as people pay to engage in interactions, elephants will be subjected to practices that can never be considered ethical or humane, even if required for “safety” purposes.
Is it dangerous to interact with an elephant?
Numerous incidents involving elephants have been reported. In 2021, an elephant killed a man feeding the animal at a roadside attraction in Thailand. In 2019 and 2020, two tourists were gored by the elephants they were riding in Thailand; one of them was trampled to death. World Animal Protection reports that between 2010 and 2016 in Thailand, captive elephants caused 17 fatalities and 21 serious injuries, including tourists, local bystanders, or handlers (such incidents are likely highly underreported). In South Africa, the NSPCA reported that between 2001 and 2015 there were 17 attacks on people by captive/managed elephants, resulting in six deaths and 11 injuries. Elephant interaction venues are relatively new in the U.S., though a woman was hospitalized with serious injuries in 2013 after being attacked by an elephant.
What are conditions like for the elephants?
Elephants may be kept in chains for prolonged periods of time, receive limited or no veterinary care, be socially deprived, and confined in small enclosures on concrete floors that damage their feet and joints. A 2020 report by World Animal Protection assessed welfare conditions for 3,837 elephants at 357 venues in seven Asian countries and found that 93% of elephants were suffering in severely inadequate or inadequate conditions. Only 7% were kept in high-welfare observation-only venues.
No captive facility can meet elephants’ complex needs, including vast room to roam, intricate social networks, and the freedom to make their own choices and engage in natural behaviors.
Are elephant interactions venues in the U.S. better than those in other countries?
U.S. venues engage in the same activities offered overseas: bathing, touching, and taking up-close photos. Elephants may also perform tricks such as twirling hula hoops and standing on their back legs. What all venues have in common, no matter the location, is the inhumane training required to exert control over the elephants and use of the bullhook.
What about animal protection laws?
Government oversight is minimal or nonexistent, so elephants are not truly protected. Trade industry “standards” do not go far enough; they safeguard business interests while allowing elephant interactions to continue – causing elephants to suffer for people’s entertainment.
I’ve been to an elephant encounter – why didn’t I see anything wrong?
It takes an expert to spot distress or discomfort in elephants, apart from obvious abnormal behaviors such as repetitive swaying and rocking. One study found that tourists attending wildlife attractions (not only elephants) did not recognize or respond to negative welfare impacts and gave positive feedback even for places with the poorest welfare standards.
