The recent incident of a Spanish woman gored to death by an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Center in Southern Thailand has gathered eyeballs on the internet. The twenty-two-year-old Blanca Ojanguren Garcia was on a Thailand trip with her boyfriend. Garcia was attacked by the pachyderm while the couple was participating in an elephant bathing experience at the Center on January 3. The experience, which is a major tourist attraction in the Southeast Asian country of Thailand, is known to have alarmed the elephant and led to the fatality.
This incident has sparked a debate about the tragic effects of human-animal proximity on animals and humans alike. According to data released by Wildlife SOS in August 2023, India has the third-largest population of captive elephants globally, with a population of 2600. This accounts for 20 per cent of the world's total captive elephant population. Experiences like bathing, feeding, and taking a stroll with elephants have become quite prevalent in India too.
After the recent incident in Thailand, the question to ask is whether these interactive activities should be encouraged and whether humans should be allowed in such close proximity to wild animals like elephants. This question needs to be addressed not only by keeping in mind the life risks that these experiences can pose to tourists but also by considering the ways in which they affect the animals and their well-being.
Dr Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan, a researcher who has been studying Asian elephants and their behaviour for the past twelve years, talks about how captive elephants are not domesticated and are largely wild-caught and trained. "Their lack of social life, prolonged confinement, and restricted movement among other factors, contribute to stress, behavioural aberrations, and unpredictability," he said.
Agreeing with Vijayakrishnan, Baiju Raj M.V., Director of Conservation Projects at Wildlife SOS talked about the traumatic experiences that elephants in captivity undergo. For animals like the innately wild elephant, unfamiliar interactions can expose them to various kinds of stress. "Activities like bathing or riding elephants are unpredictable and potentially dangerous, which is why they should be discouraged, to ensure the well-being of tourists and animals both," said Raj. He also runs the Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC), which aims to rescue and rehabilitate injured elephants.
Citing similar instances from India, like the October 2014 incident of a tourist trampled by an elephant while posing for a photograph with the animal, Vijayakrishnan said, "Instead of such handling-based tourism initiatives, there should be a shift towards tourists having the opportunity to watch and follow elephants from a safe distance. This will allow them to observe their natural behaviour while allowing the animal to be at ease in their natural environment."
Despite threats to both animals and humans, many camps and centres in the country continue to offer these activities to tourists with some guidelines and security measures that might not be enough to control the consequences, when things go wrong. Despite threats to both animals and humans, many camps and centres in the country continue to offer these activities to tourists
Elefantastic is a sanctuary based in Jaipur that allows tourists to experience interactive activities with elephants. "There is no chance that our elephants will attack anyone, they are five times more intelligent than human beings," said Rahul Choudhary, founder of Elefantastic. He mentioned that a trained caretaker accompanies the tourists who are allowed to go very close to the elephant. "The elephant belongs to you," added Choudhary. However, when the elephant enters the lake, the tourists are disallowed to enter the water.
Similarly, the Dubare Elephant Camp in Karnataka, which is home to 24 captive elephants, allows tourists to participate in activities with the animals as well. Tourists are allowed to spend 2.5 hours with the elephants, playing, bathing, and feeding them. "Our guests are briefed by trained and experienced naturalists who also accompany them to the camp," said Prithvi Raj, manager at Jungle Lodges and Resorts at the Dubare elephant camp under the government of Karnataka. He mentioned that guests are instructed to avoid going behind the elephant, wearing dark-coloured clothes, and shouting whenever near the animals.
When talking about experienced and confident mahouts (a person who tends an elephant), experts say that it is rather difficult to generalize how a wild animal behaves under different situations and pressures. "Under panic-stricken situations like the one that transpired in Thailand recently, there is very little time and space for the handler to avoid a mishap," said Vijayakrishnan.
However, if engaging in such activities, experts suggest following some strict rules. Raj suggests the following:
Respect and follow everything that the handler is instructing. They know their animals better than you know them.
Avoid any sudden movement or touch to the animal
Do not scream, shout or do anything provocative in front of the animal.
He also warned that once an elephant loses its cool, it is impossible for the handler to do anything but beat the animal, something that usually has little effect once the elephant is alarmed and provoked.
Raj suggested that all animal lovers who wish to come closer to the animals can participate in the volunteer programs conducted by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA). "These volunteer programmes will allow you to take care of the animal rather than simply play with it like a toy," he added.
