1

As usual its to feed the Chinese needs for animal parts. Animal welfare in Asia is very poor and once they have all been poached what will they do then.Short minded mentality by short minded people.

2

And reading through the IHT report, which OP provided the link for, one can see that we are all responsible for this tragedy.
Earlier this year, my wife and I stayed at Lak Lake in Central Vietnam, where elephant rides were one of the attractions. We enjoyed a ride on one particularly good-tempered animal, on a trek which included a swim across one end of the lake. Most of the elephants seemed fairly well treated, if you can call carrying tourists around all day a good time, but it may be their only chance of avoiding complete extinction. Ironic. And very sad.

3

Speak for yourself, I never ride elephants dont see the point in sitting on the back of an animal that is being used just for the tourist buck.

4

Take it easy, man - in general I would agree with you, but on this occasion, I was accompanying my wife who had never had the experience of riding on an elephant. It will probably be the last time for both of us, though we were able to witness the fact that this particular animal and his "mahout" (or whatever the Vietnamese equivalent) had a pretty good rapport, and appeared to be treated well. I'm sure that's not always the case.

5

Take what easy, I made a reply.

6

Google elephant crushing and then decide whether the elephant was good natured or not. Elephants aren't trained in the conventional sense whether in circuses or for rides like this. Don't buy into the cruelty

7

karaokequeen is correct. The method of 'training' for elephants in Asia is called 'crushing' and it's a term meaning to put the elephant (baby)into a wooden crate, chained up and beaten for usually 7 days until the baby ele gives up and it's spirit is broken. common uses of breaking the spirit are beating it with a hooked stick, making sure the metal hook is firmly hit into the ele's hide, being burnt, eyes being rubbed with chillies, in fact anything that will make the elephant frightened of the trainer so that it will do virtually anything for him. starving it and giving it limited water in this week also makes the elephant subordinate to the trainer. in sense, the elephant remembers everything that happened to it and will do whatever the mahout tells it to incase the things that happened as a youngster happen again. all this may be done while the mother elephant is caged in another area but can see and hear the baby's cries, unable to do anything about it. this elephant may have been bred with captive elephants and will herself be captive or else the baby will be taken from a mother who has been killed, maybe for ivory.
please, if you go to Asia, don't take elephant rides and similarly if you see elephants begging on the streets with their owners. these have all been 'trained' the same way.

Edited by: HandInHandWithAsia

8

Yes, cant see the joy in riding on an animal that has been mistreated,animal cruelty is not a nice thing.

9

Thank you, HandinHand, you raise some very pertinent and disturbing points, things of which I was not previously aware. But now that I am, you can be sure I will no longer view this exploitation of elephants with any measure of leniency. Such treatment is indeed cruel and shocking in the extreme, and something I will not hesitate to bring to the attention of anyone I meet who may be considering partaking of elephant riding while vacationing in any of the locations where it is on offer. Perhaps if enough people are made aware of this, the practice may eventually be stopped, due in part to lack of support - though I'd like to think it could also come about as a result of some kind of legislation.