If you have seen PETA U.S.' video and wish to help elephants in Thailand, please read the following response by PETA Asia-Pacific to the government's coverup:
1. Who is torturing the baby elephant in PETA U.S.'s video footage?
WHAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS:
“The group of individuals who appeared in PETA's video footage were actually Karens, an ethnic minority, living along the Thai-Myanmar border. What they had perpetrated on the baby elephant was an offence under the Thai law. Instead of quickly notifying the Thai authority PETA sought to videotape the torturing and tormenting [of] the young elephant. By the very fact that PETA was present openly at the crime scene, PETA directly or indirectly had a part in the suffering of the baby elephant. It took the Thai authority some time to locate the exact location where the young elephant was being tortured. The baby elephant has now been medically attended to and cared for by the Thai authority. If you are angered and sadden (sic) by what you have seen in PETA’s video footage, you should realize that it was PETA which had a hand in the horrific incident and shared responsibility for the torturing and suffering of that baby elephant.”
THE FACTS:
PETA U.S. was not present during filming. They received the video from a whistleblower several months after it was taken. According to many different sources and organizations within Thailand, the video shows exactly what is done throughout Thailand at elephant-training camps, including those run by the government itself. If this abuse had not been documented, efforts to prevent the torture of many more elephants would not be possible. Any attempt by the people who were filming to interfere would simply have resulted in their being escorted out of the village while the abuse continued, and they would have had no evidence to prove what was happening. If Thai officials had remedied the serious problem of abusive training long ago, the whistleblower would not have felt it necessary to give this video to PETA U.S.
2. Is it true that young elephants all over Thailand are being tortured by the application of methods similar to the ones shown in the video footage?
WHAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS:
“One needs (
sic) not go far to establish the truth. Had Thailand been notoriously known for the rampant application of cruelty to elephants and other animals everywhere in the country, why would then PETA have to travel deep into the jungle adjacent to the Thai-Myanmar border to shoot the footage? If PETA had a genuine desire to present a well-balanced overall picture of elephants in Thailand to the world, it should and could have had a panoramic and balanced picture of the situation had it bothered to visit state-run or private elephant camps across the country. It goes to prove that PETA was bent on hurting the image of Thailand and chose to trek deep into the forest just to record the spitting (sic) image of cruelty inflicted on a young elephant in one isolated and illegal incident.”
THE FACTS:
The government of Thailand cannot claim to know how widespread this practice is because no government agency monitors elephant-training sessions. According to a December 15, 2002, article in the Bangkok Post, “Every adult elephant in Thailand has gone through the traditional phaa jaan ceremony.” It is widely agreed among those willing to speak about it that the video of this “ceremony” accurately depicts the horrendous cruelty that is routine and widespread.
3. Why is there a need to domesticate elephants?
WHAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS:
“For centuries strong bonds between the people of Thailand and elephants have been established through the various tasks and works that they both performed side by side. This special relationship has been a way of life for Thais ever since.”
THE FACTS:
“Domestication” is a euphemism for traumatically tearing elephants away from their loving mothers and families and their natural habitat and beating them into submission. The privately owned elephants used in Thailand’s cruel elephant camps could easily be returned to a more natural life if the country established free-roaming sanctuaries and stopped its citizens from dominating elephants with physical abuse.
4. Why separate the elephant calves from their mothers?
WHAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS:
“It is widely established among elephant experts that when baby elephants attained a certain age they, in particular the male calves, can be harmful to their mothers. The usual age when baby elephants are separated from their mother is three. This is the time when baby elephants no longer want their mothers suckling them. Like children attending a kindergarten, baby elephants are brought to elephant camps to be with their peers. There they are reared to know and to learn how to live in harmony with human beings.”
THE FACTS:
This is one of the most outrageous claims being made by Thai officials. Elephants today are recognized as being intelligent, emotional, social animals who have extraordinarily tight bonds between mothers and offspring. According to the Asian Elephant Studbook,
published by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association:
Elephants are a herd animal with complex social behaviors. … Female offspring remain with the family even when they mature and begin to breed. … There are strong social bonds within the family and cooperative behavior, especially concerning the protection and guidance of the young, has been observed. Males leave the family when they reach puberty, between the ages of 8 and 10.
Forcibly removing baby elephants from their mothers is a traumatic experience for both mother and baby.
5. Why use hooks?
WHAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS:
“By nature elephants are temperamental, disobedient, and sometimes they can be violent. A mahout carries a hook with him when he trains an elephant. From the start of elephant training an elephant learns that a hook can cause pain. In due course a hook becomes a mere symbolic gesture for obedience from elephants, and mahouts have no need for their actual use. Agencies concerned for the training of elephants have initiated public relations campaigns to mahouts throughout the country to train their elephants in accordance with the correct procedures.”
THE FACTS:
As depicted in the videotape released by PETA U.S., "An elephant learns that a hook can cause pain" when he or she is immobilized and beaten relentlessly by mahouts who repeatedly embed the pointed hook into the elephant's sensitive skin, causing bloody wounds. These sharp, metal hooks are regularly used to show and then remind the elephant "who's boss." For elephants in captivity, many zoos have modernized their practices by disposing of bullhooks and chains and instead using operant conditioning and "protected contact" to manage elephants. In protected contact, elephants are never dominated, punished, or forced to perform tricks. They learn to voluntarily cooperate with routine husbandry procedures through the systematic use of positive reinforcement only.
6. Is it true that the Thai tourist industry relies on the attraction of elephant performances?
WHAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS:
“Thailand is one of the world’s popular tourist spots. The country is blessed with many natural beauties, be it the beautiful beaches, lush green mountains, or interesting historic sites. It is also renowned for its efficient service industry where the Thai friendliness and smile are inseparable. Elephant performances only amount to a small fraction of Thailand’s booming tourist industry. In short the elephants need the tourism industry to survive, not the other way round.”
THE FACTS:
According to a February 5, 2001, Associated Press article reporting on a five-day conference in Bangkok that was attended by more than 100 elephant experts from around the world:
Thailand is emerging as a regional hub for the smuggling, driven by a rising demand for elephants in tourism and begging. … Baby elephants are smuggled to Thailand from neighboring Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. … [C]alves were snatched from their mothers in the wild. That would likely mean killing the mother first and possibly injuring others in the herd that would try to help the calf. Calves fetch $2,000 to $4,600 depending on their health. … The calves are trained to perform circus tricks at resorts, and are then sometimes sold and used for begging on city streets in Thailand. … [I]n the past four or five years, more than 300 calves have died at Thai elephant hospitals.
Clearly, if Thailand’s tourist industry were not exploiting elephants for financial gain, there would be no need for illegal poaching and smuggling. Since PETA U.S. launched its campaign exposing the cruel treatment of elephants in Thailand, numerous tourists have complained. One recent visitor reported:
What we saw in some places was shocking, and maltreatment of elephants was obvious. Elephants ‘off-duty’ were chained up in the burning sun, no shade at all. One pregnant elephant was held on a very short chain without shade, so that the animal could hardly move. In one camp we could eye-witness the cruel beating of one elephant by his mahout. As a result the animal was bleeding from 4 wounds on his head and one wound on its ear. In another camp a lot of animals had fresh wounds on head and/or ears. We were deeply shocked and sad when we saw how the animals were treated by their mahouts.
7. What are the realistic solutions?
WHAT THE THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS:
“A propaganda campaign by PETA to discredit Thailand by distributing pictures of a baby elephant being tortured and to discourage tourists from visiting the country and buy (sic) Thai goods is one-sided and serve (sic) no purpose. PETA should know full well that it is only through mutual cooperation on a basis of a thorough understanding of the issue that the problem will be resolved. For centuries elephants have become a national symbol. Thailand attaches great importance to the conservation of elephants. The Forestry Industry Organization (FIO), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, was specifically set up to provide care for elephants and alleviate the plight of elephants while the Bill on Elephant as National Symbol Act is being drafted. Once the law is enacted, it will give FIO the responsibility of looking after the livelihood and welfare of elephants, including registration, elephant breeds, issuance of permits for elephant camps and enforcement of punitive measures against wrongdoers found guilty of torturing elephants or taking elephants onto the streets and the establishment of the elephant conservation fund. The Thai agencies involved in helping elephants also benefit from the cooperation received from the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The RSPCA contributed 28,000 UK pounds annually to the mobile elephant clinic. If you really want to help the elephants you can do it through these organisations.”
THE FACTS:
Unless Thailand abandons its cavalier, cover-up attitude toward highly endangered Asian elephants, the species is doomed. Instead of concerning themselves with addressing the real problem of elephant abuse, Thai officials have been attacking PETA and its affiliates, disseminating blatantly false information, and issuing conflicting statements.
The government must commit to closing down cruel elephant camps. Both the tourist industry and the elephants would benefit if Thailand were to establish national parks similar to those in Africa. In parks, elephants could roam freely, and tourists could pay to enter the park to observe elephants from a distance, in their natural environment, living as nature intended. The mahouts could work in the parks educating tourists about elephant behavior and protecting the elephants from illegal poaching.
