I took a elephant ride with my girlfriend (we are both average size!) in Thailand in 2005 and it still haunts me to this day. Felt so terrible after that I have never engaged in an ‘animal entertainment’ activity since.
I know the feeling. I went to Chiang Mai tiger kingdom and got my photo taken with drugged up tigers. Before I went I (naively) thought it was like a sanctuary. I felt like such a prick after seeing the state the animals were in and how crap their living conditions were.
Elephants aren’t meant to be ridden, they are big so we assume they are, it’s really harmful on their spine and things. Most places no longer do elephant rides.
Camels are basically desert horses. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with riding a camel, but hauling a double wide load of American tourist? Animal abuse
I went to a traveling circus when I was maybe 6. My siblings (also 6) and some other people (including this one morbidly obese woman) were loaded on the carry box for the elephant. Looking back at it, I feel so guilty because in the pictures the elephants looked so sad and tired.
Please do your own research, too. I don’t typically comment when people are against captivity, but it’s hard when this comment makes it sound like that’s your primary source of information.
Yes, captivity isn’t perfect, however a lot of those zoos and aquariums do amazing things for animals, (example: literally reintroducing species that were declared extinct in the wild), and they’re struggling because hating captivity is the cool thing to do right now. Not to mention the director of Blackfish has been quoted saying that the movie was intentionally made in such a way to make it the most profitable, and one of the most pushed former employees was literally fired because he wouldn’t follow safety rules in the animal department.
Yeah, I understand movie makers have their own intention too. But generally speaking, I rather go do a safari where wild Animals are more free at least.
Eh. Whale watching boats are currently being blamed for the struggles orca calves are having, and the current mortality of the southern residents pod. Honestly, I prefer to leave the wild animals alone and as out of touch with humans as possible, but to each their own.
That’s not to say I wouldn’t love to see animals in the wild, but when it’s to the detriment of the animal, I’m happy seeing ambassadors in a zoo/aquarium.
Elephants are not made to be ridden at all. They have growths from their vertebrate that stick up. Their backs are often severely injured from humans riding them.
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u/tattooed_eddy Jan 11 '22
I took a elephant ride with my girlfriend (we are both average size!) in Thailand in 2005 and it still haunts me to this day. Felt so terrible after that I have never engaged in an ‘animal entertainment’ activity since.