Elephants in Thailand - Conservation
I’m still debating whether I agree with these sorts of practices. Yes these animals were supposedly saved from hard labor and beatings, obviously that’s good. And they are used to people, so much so that they may not be able to exist in the wild…
But does that mean we put them in cages?… JUST KIDDING, THOSE CAGES WERE FOR US. They were so ravenous that kept reaching for more food.
But that also made me worry, were they being starved the rest of the time… not at all if you believe the owner. They are just extremely hungry animals, which I believe is true.
Crossed a small rickety bridge to the island of the elephants.
Made a special “nutrient-rich” dish for them. Seemed real.
And so many names are so similar it’s hard to tell which one for which you signed up.
I had a real crisis of conscience, and since I already paid for the one I got, I did go, but didn’t bathe or muddy up the elephants… though I did feed them when they came over and patted me down (like in an airport).
But what makes elephants different from the feral/wild-ish horses and camels I rode in Mongolia? Are they domesticated or not? Are they the same as the wild elephants that the Thailand king rode into Chiang Mai, Thailand all those centuries ago? I don’t know, I’m not a biologist, got to do more research.
Confused final thoughts…
If elephant can be left and/or returned to the wild, THEY SHOULD, AND SHOULD BE PROTECTED.
There are so many fake conservation places, especially in Thailand that you really have to do research to figure out what the best one to support is.