Kathmandu, July 7
Most of elephants held captive for entertainment and tourism businesses in South Asian nations including Nepal are kept in cruel conditions, says an international animal rights organisation.
The London-based World Animal Protection says more than three quarters of nearly 3,000 elephants used for the entertainment of tourists are being treated cruelly.
“Elephant rides and shows are inherently cruel and stressful for the animals involved,” one of its recent report says, “Sadly, many tourists continue to visit attractions exploiting elephants in this way.”
“There are currently only a small number of elephant tourist venues in Asia which don’t exploit their elephants.”
The study, conducted between November 2014 and May 2016, assessed the scale of the captive Asian elephant tourism industry across Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Laos and Cambodia.
Meanwhile, the organisation also announced to launch an initiative to protect elephants in these countries from cruel treatment.
The organisation is partnering up with the TUI Care Foundation initiated by the TUI, the world’s largest company, for a conservation project.
“Our partnership with TUI Care Foundation will allow us to further strengthen this work, and will protect up to 1,500 elephants by 2020…The foundation will fund vital projects promoting and supporting humane, alternative elephant venues, such as genuine sanctuaries.”
The partnership will also allow our voice for elephants to reach more people, and inspire them to protect wildlife rather than exploit it, the organisation says.
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