Elephants are being abused for tourist rides at Amber Fort, India

In his first guest blog, Shubhobroto Ghosh, our Wildlife Projects Manager in India, writes about elephant abuse witnessed at Amber Fort, the popular tourist attraction in Rajasthan
Unfortunately, the scale of the elephants’ abuse and the hidden suffering behind these rides is lost on many.

Captured from the wild, often as babies, these animals undergo a brutal training process called ‘the crush’ whereby they are beaten and starved into submission by their handlers.

They are next brought into these venues such as Amber Fort, to carry humans on their backs and become props in an entertainment display.

An Amber Fort elephant, with damaged feet from carrying tourists, kneels on a concrete floor

Studies have shown that the elephants at Amber Fort in Jaipur – numbering in excess of 100 – show multiple health problems. These include foot injuries, damaged eyes and general fatigue caused by their unnatural activity.

The elephants’ diet is often nutritionally inadequate, barely fueling them for the steep slope they are forced to climb. They are forced to walk over concrete surfaces which cause them pain and distress.
Bearing in mind this immense cruelty – that is often promoted by travel and tour operators – a petition has been filed to the Supreme Court of India to stop this suffering and improve elephant welfare.

The petition has been led by Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (an NGO), in a bid to stop these elephant rides.

The elephant is India’s National Heritage Animal, but the way they are treated shows complete lack of concern for a wild animal that is extremely social, sentient and walks across a range of over 20 km in the wild every day.
We are working with travel companies to urge them to remove elephant rides and shows from their itineraries, and promote animal friendly tourism.

We are also looking into a sustainable solution for these elephants in Rajasthan, so that they can experience some dignity after a lifetime of abuse.

The elephant has a rich history in India, worshipped and revered in culture and then ironically killed for ivory and illegally traded as objects of entertainment.
World Animal Protection strongly urges people to treat this majestic animal with respect so that as a wild animal, the elephant stays in the wild and does not become a cog in the relentless wheel of entertainment.

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/blogs/elephants-are-being-abused-tourist-rides-amber-fort-india

https://www.peta.de/aktiv/elefantenreiten-indien-petition/#petition

And I mean…In 13 Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodiascha, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam) still live between 44,000 and 49,000 wild elephants (CITES, 2017).
At the same time, according to official figures, at least 15,000 elephants are kept in captivity in these countries, most of them in Myanmar.

The actual number of animals caught is probably significantly higher because not all individuals are officially registered (CITES, 2016). The information on animals in captivity as well as in the wild also differ greatly depending on the source.

Originally, elephants were mainly used as work animals.
The elephants now in captivity are mainly used in tourism.

Like all wild animals, elephants never give up their nature.

A wild elephant would never let a human ride on its back.

In order to achieve that elephants submit to humans, allow direct contact and obey orders, they are broken by force.

The use of elephants for work or entertainment is enforced and based on the concept of negative reinforcement. Physical and mental punishment as well as the deprivation of vital things such as water, food and sleep are supposed to break the will of the elephant.

It is no coincidence that the method used for this is called “breaking” and is reminiscent of methods used in torture prisons.
The herd animals are isolated and starved, and water is often withheld from them until they are ready to do what their mahout says.
Sometimes young animals are also torn from their mothers and made compliant with fire.
According to the Pro Wildlife organization, the black market value of an elephant calf in Thailand is 24,500 euros.

The mahout mostly uses metal hooks that are stuck into the sensitive ears or trunk areas.
The blows often in the face and eyes leave painful wounds.

After the “crush” procedure (breaking of will) the suffering of the animals is far from over: Even during their further life in captivity, the animals are continuously abused physically and mentally.

The wooden frames in which the holidaymakers usually sit are also a torture for the animals.
In some cases, metal chains with pointed hooks are tied around the elephants’ feet, with the help of which the “mahout” forces the elephant to move in the direction of travel.

Cruelty to animals for the business with the holidaymakers, who then quite routinely rate the show program on the Internet with “the elephant ride was very nice”.

There can be no show, no favor, no football game with the free will of a wild animal.
Even the dumbest tourist should finally get that.

My best regards to all, Venus

Today we commemorate the grizzly death of Mary the elephant.
Mary was a member of Sparks Bro. Circus, paying a visit to East Tennessee in 1916, when she attacked and killed her handler.

It was September 13, 1916, when the world that existed in tiny little Erwin, Tenn., changed forever.
It was a peaceful time on Main Street in Erwin.
The world was at war, but America wasn’t.

People were watching silent films, and King Lear was one of the most popular films of the year. Talking pictures were almost a decade away, and most people were seeking entertainment where they could find it.
It was a good time for the circus to come to town.

The Sparks Brothers Circus came to the area and brought with it all the wonders of any circus. This included entertaining sea lions, clowns, a man who walked on his head and of course, elephants.

These five-ton creatures were the stars of the circus, and Sparks Brothers was proud to have five of them.
Mary was the star among stars as she was billed to be the largest land animal in the world.
Sparks Brothers even said that she was larger by two inches than Jumbo, a giant elephant owned by P.T. Barnum and his circus.

To drum up business, Sparks Brothers billed Mary as one of the most dangerous animals in the world, having killed from two to 20 men.

No doubt this part of the story is pure myth, and it is highly doubtful that Mary had ever killed anyone before.
On September 11, 1916, Sparks Brothers made it to Kingsport, Tenn., and set up camp.
Drifter Red Eldridge was traveling with them and worked as a janitor and an elephant handler.

He had no formal training as an elephant handler and had just gotten this job to pass the time and make a few dollars before he hopped on a train and moved on to the next town on the line.

The story goes that Eldridge was told to take all five of the elephants to a large ditch that ran down the town to let them splash in the water.

On the way back, Eldridge drove her by using a stick.

Here is where the story takes on some controversy.

One version has Mary reaching over for a watermelon rind, and Eldridge jerked her chain to make her keep moving. It is said Mary picked Eldridge up with her trunk and threw him against a drink stand.
She then walked over to the already lifeless body and stepped on his head, mashing the poor man’s head flat.
Another version has Mary throwing Eldridge 10 feet in the air, slamming him to the ground, running her tusks through him and then stepping on his head.
Still another version says she swiped her tail at Eldridge. Her tail struck him in his head killing him instantly.

The final version says she had two abscessed teeth and was in extreme pain. When Eldridge pulled on her chain or struck her with the stick, she got mad and went for Eldridge, eventually killing him.

Regardless of the reason, Mary had killed a man, and she was going to have to pay a price.
As valuable as Mary was, she had to go.

The problem was how do they execute her?
No one had a gun large enough to execute her quickly and humanely. A local blacksmith shot her with his 32-20 rifle, and it had little effect. A local sheriff shot her with his .45 handgun and only “knocked chips out of her.”

They thought about electrocuting her, but that seemed too cruel.
Then someone had an idea that they would hang her. The result was one of most famous events in east Tennessee history and an event that put one quiet little community on the map.

Mary didn’t perform for the matinee performance the day she died. She was chained outside the circus tent, and folks say she spent the entire performance time swaying nervously.

The crowd’s dissatisfaction with her absence was mollified by the announcement that Mary would be hung in the Clinchfield Railyards later in the afternoon — with no additional charge for admission.

Despite the close emotional bond, the two had shared for years, Sparks severed the relationship in a way that would at least save his business’ life: he staged a public execution.

More than 2,500 people gathered to watch Mary swing near the turn-table and powerhouse on that drizzly afternoon; perhaps the number of eyewitnesses, as well as the unforgettable, sad spectacle of the event, explains the consensus on this part of the story.

The next day, Sparks World Famous Shows entered the town of Erwin, ready to hang their star pupil from a 100-ton crane located on the railroad tracks.

Followed by four other elephants, walking trunk-to-tail as they did in countless shows, Mary entered the “gallows,” where circus employees fitted a chain around her neck.

The chain, which was attached to a crane, would hoist her into the air.

As with the bullets, the first chain failed to work on Mary. After lifting her five feet, the chain snapped, sending the elephant falling to the ground and breaking her hip in the process.

Circus employees had the time getting the chain around her neck. Then they hooked the boom to the neck chain, and when they began to lift her up, one could hear the bones and ligaments cracking in her foot.

They lifted her once more, where she shrieked and thrashed about until going limp.. this way they did that.

A remaining elephant who had worked with Mary for years escaped his pen later that night, running toward the railway yard where Mary took her last, pained breaths.

Perhaps it is mimicking the behavior of wild elephants back bone of fallen members of the family for many years. Or maybe it was just looking for Mary.

This elephant, too, was captured and returned to the circus which killed his companion.

https://www.elizabethton.com/2020/05/05/east-tennessee-history-murderous-mary/

We’re not blaming Mary for what happened.
We blame those who have put her against their will in the circus for years and made her docile through torture.
It’s their fault.

My best regards to all, Venus

From the Vatican there is sharp criticism that many couples keep dogs and cats instead of children
– “So many couples don’t have children because they don’t want one,” said Pope Francis.
– He criticized the fact that in many families pets would take the place of children.

At his first general audience in 2022, Pope Francis found clear words about the falling birth rate in Italy and general childlessness.
The decision to adopt is a commitment to the highest form of love, he said.

In his first general audience in 2022 on Boxing Day, the head of the Roman Catholic Church had already spoken of a “demographic winter” when the Italian birth rate, which had fallen again, was published.
According to media reports, the number of births in Italy has fallen by 29.8 percent since 2009.

Civilization is getting older and older and it lacks humanity because one loses the wealth of parenting, warned Francis on Wednesday.
A country without children suffers.

He is quoted as saying:
“Many couples don’t have children because they don’t want to, or they only have one because they don’t want to anymore, but they have two dogs, two cats … Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children.”

“Civilization is getting older and older and it lacks humanity because one loses the wealth of parenting”, warned Francis on Wednesday.

He understands that this would make people laugh, but “that’s the reality,” said Pope Francis.
In this context also belongs the social criticism in connection with animals, “which are received like real ‘children’ and are often treated as such”.
He also stated: “The denial of motherhood and fatherhood makes us small, it takes away humanity.”
The Catholic leader emphasized: “Having children is the fullness of a person’s life.”

“A country without children suffers”, emphasized the pontiff in his general audience: “Whoever lives and marries in the world must remember to have children”.

https://de.rt.com/europa/129403-papst-franziskus-kritisiert-kinderlose-und/

And I mean…The representative of God on earth has to define exactly in which corner of the world the population should grow.
Because a child in Europe is, because of its high consumption, much more harmful to the climate than a child who is now growing up in Kenya or Tanzania.

But … If Dad is interested in children, then we would know a better field of activity.

My best regards to all, Venus