Have you ever scrolled through social media feed and seen a picture of someone riding an elephant, a video of an elephant painting, or some kind of post that included a wild animal in an unnatural environment?
While these posts may seem cute or exciting, the reality for these wild animals tells a different story.
While on vacation in places such as Thailand or Sri Lanka, many people choose to visit animal tourist attractions that are popular in that area.
In Sri Lanka, for example, people can pay to ride elephants. Unfortunately, in doing so, they support an industry that is actually very harmful to elephants.
These elephants are separated from their mothers at a very young age and beaten until their spirits are broken.
They are threatened into compliance with painful bullhooks and kept in heavy chains. These poor elephants are overworked, brutalized, and denied proper care.
In 2019, an elephant named Kanakota collapsed and died after being forced to carry around tourists all day, having already spent the previous day walking in a parade wearing heavy ornaments.
Unfortunately, Kanakota’s fate is not unique. So many elephants suffer at the hands of humans, especially in the tourist industry. The only repercussion that is currently in place for elephant abuse is fifty Sri Lankan Rupees, equivalent to around twenty-eight cents, which is a very small fraction of what handlers earn offering elephant rides.
Sign this petition to ask Sri Lanka to ban elephant rides and to pass new animal welfare laws that will provide real animal protection.
This article was first published by OneGreenPlanet on 24 July 2020. Lead Image Source : HopeBy.
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