Thailand leads the pack for Asia’s abused tourist elephants

Twice as many elephants work in Thailand’s tourism industry as the rest of Asia combined, with the vast majority kept in “severely inadequate conditions”, a new report revealed Thursday. The world’s largest land mammal is a huge draw for tourists across two continents. But while Africa’s elephants are more likely to be spotted roaming vast nature reserves, their Asian cousins are less fortunate. A multi-million dollar industry has flourished in recent decades with tourists taking rides on the giant beasts or watching them perform in circus shows. Researchers from World Animal Protection spent two years visiting 220 venues using elephants across Asia, in what they describe as the most comprehensive survey to date of a rapidly growing, lucrative, but poorly regulated industry. Their data showed pachyderm welfare routinely came in second place to turning a fast profit, with three-quarters of Asia’s captive elephants kept in conditions that were rated poor or unacceptable. Thailand stood out as the global epicenter. Of the 2,923 elephants WAP documented working within Asia’s tourism trade, 2,198 were found in Thailand alone. The next largest industry was India, with an estimated 617 elephants, followed by Sri Lanka on 166, Nepal on 147, Laos on 59…

Thailand leads the pack for Asia's abused tourist elephants have 299 words, post on at July 5, 2017. This is cached page on wBird. If you want remove this page, please contact us.