Riding Elephants

Life is full of debacles and for me, elephant riding was a big one.  I am a vegetarian (basically, a vegan when I am responsible for my own food) who has pangs of guilt when she kills ants or mosquitoes because it is just bad juju to kill or injure a living thing.  The ants are only trying to survive.  And, as I have featured ants at least three times in this blog, I find them very clever little creatures.  Thus, point made, elephant riding yes or no?

Photo Credit: Kate J.

Ultimately, I went with yes... and this is why, as I think the decision making is probably worth understanding because I am sure some of you will be flabbergasted I would partake in the "extreme abuse" of these endangered animals.

I had conversations prior to going to Mondulkiri with people who have lived here far longer than I, we are talking 15+ years, who know the culture and the language.  I was told, the animals are treated as a part of the family.  They are not only the best shot at an income many in these rural indigenous communities have, they are highly respected by the indigenous people in the community (this is speaking only of elephants in the indigenous communities, the ones for tourists at Siem Reap live a very different life).  These elephants have been in the family for 50+ years sometime.  There have been numerous newspaper articles and campaigns by outside organizations spreading the idea that all these animals are abused.  Generally, among the longtermers who know the culture, these campaigns come largely from people who are coming in from issue-based organizations not organizations that have worked long-term with the communities they are chastising.  Some of these allegations also come from organizations that operate money making "alternatives."   While, I will acknowledge the breaking of these animals for riding and separating them from their family units is probably less than ideal, we 'break' horses, we separate many domesticated animals from their family units.  So, on this one, I chose to go with the local perspective.

I rode these lovely creature in an indigenous village in Mondulkiri, Cambodia.  The elephant is owned and the tour arranged all by the indigenous people.  This is how they make their living.  The elephant gets saddled up maybe twice-thrice/week and then hangs out and eats the other days.  The elephants also help with farming when there are no tourists.  I have not blogged a whole lot about the treatment of animals in Cambodia but it is not generally up to par with the USA.  To put it bluntly, the elephants were treated better than some of the people in Cambodia.  Sure, I would cringe when they got wacked or prodded and would love if this had not been happening BUT we checked our elephants for the 'signs' of real abuse (messed up feet, ribs showing, sores, etc).  The owners would literally use the same stick they used to thump the elephant to draw luscious, leafy greens closer for the elephant to grab.  So, as with everything in Cambodia the bad and the good literally sit side by side.

And, I had the opportunity to speak with our guides.  Khmer is also their second language so we were on fair footing.  They do not speak English, though one knew elephant in about 10 languages.  These men who are demonized by some outside sources were just like any human beings, though, clearly living disconnected from the reality most of us reading this blog live.  One had never studied at school.  He went from herding cattle to caring for an elephant at age 10, which he described as a big step up.  Of the nine children one had, only four were still alive.  I didn't want to ask how the others had died but it clearly illustrated some of the struggles these men face.  No father should have to bury more than half of his children. The first guide, after finding out I had decent Khmer, became so animated (most of the tourists they see are not able to actually interact with them it seemed) and soon the questions started coming.  My heart broke with some of them.  "The sun in America, is it the same sun as in Cambodia or are their two suns?"  "Where does iron come from, the ground or does it grow on the trees?"  And, the one that really caught me, "Is there war anywhere in the world?"  This question was then followed with "Why?"  I don't have the ability to answer that in any language. And, it was important he knew who was fighting who and was it a civil war or outsiders.  This was a segue into him talking about the time of the Khmer Rouge/civil war.  He had been a soldier and even the elephants were enlisted and forced to carry guns and things for long distances.  Needless to say, I could have talked with these men for hours (had my language skills allowed it).  They, I am sure, had stories that had not widely been told but I am so thankful I had the opportunity to learn a little about their lives.

Elephant Photos:

Elephant guide

James freaking out on top of an elephant

If you had told these two girls 20-years ago when they met at Skate World that they would be riding elephants together in Cambodia in 20 years they probably would have laughed at you, skated off, and tried to figure out what Cambodia meant :)

Our guides resting and eating lunch by the beautiful river

Another man from the village re-saddling his elephant

Rub-a-dub-dub!  Our guides give their elephants a bath at the waterfall.  The love with which they did this was visible from the bank.  They made sure every inch of those marvelous giants got a good rub down.

The view... Once upon a time, this was all jungle.  Maybe habitat loss should be the worry for the elephants not the few that are 'domesticated'

It cracked me up that this guide was on his cellphone, on an elephant, in the middle of nowhere.  Oh, technology.

My 'fake tan' from all the red dust flying around getting to and from the elephants and in the village.  Seriously, who needs all those chemicals to look orange, just come roll in Cambodian dirt :)