The Cruel Realities of Elephants in Tourism and the Need for New Law Now
Animals: Tradition - Philosophy - Religion

FROM Duncan McNair, SARX: For All God's Creatures
November 2020

Save The Asian Elephants STAE urges new UK law to ban advertising, promotion and sale of unethical venues – in favour of genuine sanctuaries where elephants live as natural a life as possible compatible with security, exhibiting natural behaviour in herds, observed by tourists at a distance safe to both.

baby Elephant
A baby’s life now reduced to ropes, chains, beatings, stabbings and loss -for human fun.

To witness little elephants beaten, bloodied, injured and crying, their natural lives forfeit – all in the name of tourism profits – is an outrage and a tragedy. It is done to “break the spirits” for easy tourism use, reinforced throughout their remaining life in captivity by stabbings and beatings. That much of this horror is driven by the UK market is cause for national shame. Save The Asian Elephants STAE urges new UK law to ban advertising, promotion and sale of unethical venues – in favour of genuine sanctuaries where elephants live as natural a life as possible compatible with security, exhibiting natural behaviour in herds, observed by tourists at a distance safe to both.

STAE’s approach has been to greatly raise public awareness of such tourism exploitation, long suppressed by those profiting from it. Our research shows the widespread, systematic, violent abuse of critically endangered baby and adult Asian elephants at thousands of tourist venues across SE Asia, promoted in the UK market by hundreds of travel businesses, nearly a quarter being members of dominant industry representative ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents). When challenged offending companies routinely cite “errors” on their website (but continue selling such places) or “we’re getting round to changing” (but don’t) or “we’ve never advertised those venues” (until shown screenshots), and so on. Candour is a very rare bird....

 

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