Riding elephants in Laos: What are the ethics of riding elephants at Mekong Elephant Camp?

WE FIVE ARE TRAVELLING TO LAOS, BUT ARE DIVIDED ABOUT THE ETHICS OF RIDING ELEPHANTS AT PAKBENG'S MEKONG ELEPHANT CAMP. ANY WAY OF VERIFYING ITS TREATMENT OF ELEPHANTS? S. BRIDGE, ERMINGTON

Some of the things that animals are made to do in the name of providing amusement for humans – dancing bears, circus lions, performing seals and dolphins – is nothing less than enslavement. We have moral principles as well as the power to bend wild animals to our will yet it is in how we treat those animals that we often betray those principles. Yet different cultures have different ideas about the treatment of animals. Living in a bubble of wealth and privilege gives you a different perspective from that of a hill tribe mahout in Pakbeng, for whom such scruples are a luxury, and choices rather more stark. Whether you ride an elephant with him might make the difference between whether his family eats rice with fish or without, or whether someone in the family goes to school that month. You could choose not to ride the elephant and give him the money anyway. It's not an easy question, and no guilt trip for those who decide to ride an elephant. "Who am I to judge?" as Pope Francis has said. As for how Pakbeng treats its elephants, the evidence is almost all anecdotal and not necessarily gospel.

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