Lumbering through the jungle, the elephant looks surprisingly graceful for its size. It walks with such a sense of purpose that it seems so majestic in the way it moves. It's almost as if the trees are respectfully moving aside their branches to let the elephant pass, rather than the hulking animal pushing them as it crashes through.
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I could stand and watch an elephant walk for hours, transfixed by its dignity. Except, on this occasion, the sight is making me sick to my stomach.
Attached to the back of this elephant is a wooden platform covered with pillows and, sitting on these pillows, there are four tourists. They're being taken on an elephant ride through the jungle and seem to be having a wonderful time. I can imagine the fun they're experiencing - when I was young and naive, I did the same thing. But now I know the cruelty that goes on behind the scenes to get to this point.
When someone talks about riding elephants being a form of animal cruelty, they don't mean that it hurts the animal to have people on its back. They're talking about the way the animals are trained to be docile enough to carry tourists around.
Ultimately, it will be public opinion ... that will help this issue reach a tipping point.
The elephants are usually taken from their mothers when they are just a few months old to be trained. They are starved, beaten, and isolated while they are just calves until they become compliant. During their entire working life, they are cut with hooks and kept in chains to control them. The average life expectancy for an elephant is about 70 years, but most used for rides die before their 30s or 40s.
Even though I still see elephant rides being offered in destinations around the world, the tourism industry has generally changed its attitude towards the activity. In the past few years, many major tour companies stopped offering elephant rides as part of their trips. The British Travel Association has guidelines against riding elephants. And just last month, Cambodia announced it will ban elephant rides at iconic Angkor Wat.
Looking back on 2019, I feel like there was little discussion about elephant rides in the tourism industry because most of us now accept how cruel it is. Instead, we've seen a lot of debate about the next animal welfare issue - dolphins.
The biggest announcement of the year on this topic came from the enormous travel website, TripAdvisor, which said in October that it would stop selling (and profiting in any way) from attractions that keep dolphins, porpoises, and whales in captivity. Other companies have made similar announcements this year, including Booking.com, British Airways, and Virgin Holidays.
TripAdvisor's decision sparked an angry reaction from Sea World on the Gold Coast, which will be included in the ban, and from the Queensland government. The supporters of Sea World point to the conservation efforts of the park and the positive effect it has on marine life on Australia's east coast. For the record, one of the leading animal welfare campaigners, World Animal Protection, acknowledges that Sea World's conservation work is commendable but says it doesn't compensate for using dolphins in captivity for entertainment.
Clearly, there are differing views when it comes to the issue of confining dolphins. Qantas found itself in the middle of a storm in August when it said publicly that it didn't partner with attractions that had captive dolphins or whales, and then had to clarify that it does actually sell tickets to Sea World and would continue to do so. In the confusion, the airline managed to anger both sides of the debate.
Animal welfare groups are working hard to pressure companies to drop their support for places that still keep dolphins in captivity, with online petitions and information campaigns ramping up this year. And, ultimately, it will be public opinion (and how that affects profit) that will help this issue reach a tipping point.
Tour companies, travel agents, and other tourism operators feel confident banning elephant rides because they think the majority of their customers agree that they're unethical. The businesses don't think they'll see a major (if any) drop in revenue because of the decision. And the question about whether the rides are cruel is quite easy to answer - yes, they are.
When it comes to dolphins, it's trickier. There is still considerable public support for dolphin captivity, as we can see by the large crowds flowing in the gates of Sea World on the Gold Coast every school holiday. Not selling tickets will mean a drop in income, and the debate about cruelty is not as clear cut.
From what I can see, though, I think that we'll look back on 2019 as the year the tide turned against dolphin captivity. There are certainly some valid points about the conservation work that takes place at Sea World and other similar attractions, but the general public won't believe for much longer that dolphin shows are a fair price to pay.
Just as my understanding of elephant rides evolved from when I sat on the back of the animal as a young backpacker to today, when the sight of it makes me ill, so will our attitudes on the confinement of dolphins, porpoises, and whales.
