Progress! Cambodia’s Biggest Attraction, Angkor Wat, Set to End Elephant Rides

Posted on 17 June 2019 at 12:00AM by PETA

Three years after Sambo the elephant dropped dead after being forced to carry tourists on her back at Angkor Wat, the Angkor Elephant Group Committee—the temple’s elephant-ride operator—has agreed to end the rides.

PROGRESS! Angkor Wat will ban elephant rides by 2020! ?

Remember: The only way to force elephants to give rides or perform tricks is through violence and domination. If you travel anywhere that elephant rides are offered, refuse to support this cruelty. pic.twitter.com/Cnio5b0RUt

— PETA Asia (@PETAAsia) June 14, 2019

Angkor Wat—a Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia—is the largest religious monument in the world, making this progressive decision even more exciting. Many tourists who patronize elephant rides do so because they love animals, but if they knew the truth about the industry, we doubt that they’d still ride.

Animals Are Not Tourist Attractions

Elephants and other animals who are used for rides, like those currently at Angkor Wat, are typically torn away from their mothers when they’re just babies, and their spirits are violently broken through domination, fear, and punishment. These elephants can’t choose to socialize with other members of their species (something that those in nature love to do) and are forced to spend long hours chained, carrying riders on their backs, or performing painful tricks—even on the hottest days. Elephants held captive in tourist-attraction “orphanages” and parks are often denied proper nutrition, adequate water, and needed veterinary care, especially for their feet. It’s no surprise, then, that some finally snap and strike back. Many, like Sambo, die decades short of the life expectancy of their species.

Tourists who ride elephants have sustained injuries and even been killed.

Progress—but Not Quite a Victory

Although an elephant-ride ban should be implemented immediately—not in early 2020, as is reportedly the plan—we applaud the Angkor Elephant Group Committee for choosing to end this merciless cycle of abuse. We urge the committee to retire the 14 elephants it currently holds captive to a legitimate sanctuary, where they’d have the freedom to roam, forage, socialize, and play on their own terms.

No Animal Should Be Forced to Give Rides

Elephants aren’t the only individuals forced to ferry tourists and their belongings on their backs. One PETA-published eyewitness report revealed horrific abuse of horses and camels forced to haul visitors on their backs or in carriages at the Great Pyramid of Giza, Saqqara’s ancient burial site, and Luxor’s royal tombs in Egypt, in the blistering heat without access to food, water, or shade. Click here to help these horses and camels.

A PETA Asia exposé of working animals in Petra, Jordan, revealed the terrible suffering of horses, mules, donkeys, and camels forced to carry tourists under the hot desert sun.

Animals around the world are similarly forced to bear the weight of humans, carriages, and tourists’ luggage, and every traveler who books an excursion involving captive animals is supporting this merciless cycle of abuse.

PETA has compelled countless companies and officials, including those in Petra, to implement more humane modes of transportation as well as animal-friendly activities and entertainment. Will you join us?

Animals deserve to be treated with respect, not shackled and ridden to death. We know it, the Angkor Elephant Group Committee knows it, and we think compassionate people such as yourself know it, too. Click below to urge Mount Everest Group, an advertiser at the Chitwan Elephant Festival in Nepal, to stop supporting cruel elephant rides and “games” by clicking the button below:

Tell Mount Everest Group to Stop Supporting Animal Abuse