Battle over elephant polo on eve of popular Bangkok tournament

[webfact]

Battle over elephant polo on eve of popular Bangkok tournament
By Philip Sherwell, Bangkok

Wildlife campaigners threaten court action over Thai elephant polo festival but organisers insist they are giving animals a 'holiday' from hardship

BANGKOK: -- It is billed as Bangkok’s Ascot, an event of pomp and pageantry that attracts leading international polo players to the banks of the Chao Praya river for one of the biggest charitable events in south east Asia.

But rather than thoroughbred horses thundering across the pitch, this event is played by competitors riding atop the four-ton might of the Asian elephant in a version of the sport dreamed up by two Britons in 1982.

Supporter of Thailand’s Elephant Polo King’s Cup insist that welfare of the animals is paramount during the tournament and note that that has raised $1 million (£700,000) for projects to protect Asia’s largest land mammal.

Full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/12187480/Battle-over-elephant-polo-on-eve-of-popular-Bangkok-tournament.html

-- The Telegraph 2016-03-09

[ChrisY1]

Giving the elephants a holiday from hardship.........so they'e admitting the elephants are treated harshly........and...of course....seeing as the Brits designed this stupid game back in 1982.....it's probably their fault!

[leeneeds]

So its okay the rest of the year to make them live with hardship?

Wow their are some meatheads in the world.

Elephants run because they are separated from the herd, can smell water and need rehydration,

run at potential threats , run away from predators,

Making them run around at polo and having that on their C V is a blight on society,

[Hawk]

Animals forced to do tricks! Is that really humane?

[craigt3365]

Hmmm...is that an elephant hook in the mahoot's hand?

http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-bullhooks.html

The bullhook is a tool used to punish and control elephants. It is also called an ankus, elephant goad, or elephant hook. The handle is made of wood, metal, plastic, or fiberglass, and there is a sharp steel hook at one end. Its shape resembles a boat hook or fireplace poker. Some bullhooks have long, "shepherd’s crook" cane-style handles, allowing the trainer a firmer grip so that greater force can be exerted while pulling and yanking the hook deeper into the elephant’s flesh.

Both ends inflict damage. The trainer uses the hook to apply varying degrees of pressure to sensitive spots on the elephant’s body (see diagram), causing the elephant to move away from the source of discomfort. Holding the hooked end, the handle is swung like a baseball bat and induces substantial pain when the elephant is struck on the wrist, ankle, and other areas where there is little tissue between skin and bone.

Amazing they allow these things to happen to animals they respect. Jeez....

[roo860]

Giving the elephants a holiday from hardship.........so they'e admitting the elephants are treated harshly........and...of course....seeing as the Brits designed this stupid game back in 1982.....it's probably their fault!

Good comment, blame it on the British, Thais can't decide themselves whether to stage it or not????

[tuanku]

There are plenty worse things happening to elephants on a daily basis than this. Go ahead with it, I say and use the money raised to do some good for the hundreds of elephants labouring under poor and unsuitable conditions and to protect the remaining wild ones.

[craigt3365]

You really think the money will be used properly? I've got my doubts.

[gamini]

A lot of ignorant posts. Elephants like to play just like other animals. They get much better treated, better food and more care at the polo tournaments. Ignored are the fact that a the huge amount of money that will be used for the benefit of these marvellous animals. As for learning new tricks, this is absolute nonsense. The elephant is just steered by the Mahoot, it is the polo player that has to learn special tricks to try and hit the ball. As for being stupid. Personally I find it much more interesting than football and far less stupid.

[craigt3365]

A lot of ignorant posts. Elephants like to play just like other animals. They get much better treated, better food and more care at the polo tournaments. Ignored are the fact that a the huge amount of money that will be used for the benefit of these marvellous animals. As for learning new tricks, this is absolute nonsense. The elephant is just steered by the Mahoot, it is the polo player that has to learn special tricks to try and hit the ball. As for being stupid. Personally I find it much more interesting than football and far less stupid.

Methinks you need to do some research on how elephants are broken, trafficked in Asia, can't be domesticated, kill many tourists here every year, are NOT designed to be ridden, etc, etc, etc....

And if you think the money raised will be actually used to benefit elephants instead of being misappropriated...well....TiT.

[condobrit001]

I bet the elephants won't forget this in a hurry.

[leeneeds]

A lot of ignorant posts. Elephants like to play just like other animals. They get much better treated, better food and more care at the polo tournaments. Ignored are the fact that a the huge amount of money that will be used for the benefit of these marvellous animals. As for learning new tricks, this is absolute nonsense. The elephant is just steered by the Mahoot, it is the polo player that has to learn special tricks to try and hit the ball. As for being stupid. Personally I find it much more interesting than football and far less stupid.

"Elephants like to play" I agree they do with other elephants when they are young,in the wild, never allowed to play with others once harnessed, and broken, having a hook shoved into them to move them, dam sure it would move me as well. maybe they will get to sip a latte or two, "Marvellous animals "

sick Entertainment at another creatures suffering , as for "better treated " so you turn the blind eye once the game is over as you know that prior and after their treatment will be worse, worsening , or woeful.

[KarenBravo]

So, if this was a polo match using horses, no one would object, but, because they are elephants, somehow this is different?

P.S. Man has been riding elephants for millenia.

[nemrut]

Figures that a nation of drunks would devise such entertainment masqueraded as 'charity event.'

[DM07]

So, if this was a polo match using horses, no one would object, but, because they are elephants, somehow this is different?

P.S. Man has been riding elephants for millenia.

Man has also been burning witches for decades!

Why not go back to that?

[KarenBravo]

So, if this was a polo match using horses, no one would object, but, because they are elephants, somehow this is different?

P.S. Man has been riding elephants for millenia.

Man has also been burning witches for decades!

Why not go back to that?

Don't deflect with irrelevent crap.

Why is it OK to use horses, but, not elephants?

[F4UCorsair]

Using animals for entertaining humans is cruel and anachronistic

It's akin to dwarf shows and similar that circuses 'entertained' the public with 50+ years ago.

If this is respite from even worse treatment, Buddha help the elephants.

Talk of elephants liking to play and polo on horses being OK, is diversionary, and simplistic,.....at best.

Edited March 10, 2016 by F4UCorsair

[cumgranosalum]

Giving the elephants a holiday from hardship.........so they'e admitting the elephants are treated harshly........and...of course....seeing as the Brits designed this stupid game back in 1982.....it's probably their fault!

it just shows to the world how archaic Thailand's attitudes are to Elephants and the welfare of animals in general

[cumgranosalum]

Giving the elephants a holiday from hardship.........so they'e admitting the elephants are treated harshly........and...of course....seeing as the Brits designed this stupid game back in 1982.....it's probably their fault!

it just shows to the world how archaic Thailand's attitudes are to Elephants and the welfare of animals in general

[cumgranosalum]

So, if this was a polo match using horses, no one would object, but, because they are elephants, somehow this is different?

P.S. Man has been riding elephants for millenia.

by comparing two separate species with the same yardstick shows only how little you understand about animal husbandry and welfare. You also seem oblivious to the various concerns about the use of horses in sport. Why choose to comment on a subject which you know so little about?

Edited March 10, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[Bluespunk]

A lot of ignorant posts. Elephants like to play just like other animals. They get much better treated, better food and more care at the polo tournaments. Ignored are the fact that a the huge amount of money that will be used for the benefit of these marvellous animals. As for learning new tricks, this is absolute nonsense. The elephant is just steered by the Mahoot, it is the polo player that has to learn special tricks to try and hit the ball. As for being stupid. Personally I find it much more interesting than football and far less stupid.

Talking of ignorance...

[Bluespunk]

So, if this was a polo match using horses, no one would object, but, because they are elephants, somehow this is different?

P.S. Man has been riding elephants for millenia.

Man has also been burning witches for decades!

Why not go back to that?

Don't deflect with irrelevent crap.

Why is it OK to use horses, but, not elephants?

It's not ok to play with horses either as far as I'm concerned.

[DM07]

So, if this was a polo match using horses, no one would object, but, because they are elephants, somehow this is different?

P.S. Man has been riding elephants for millenia.

Man has also been burning witches for decades!

Why not go back to that?

Don't deflect with irrelevent crap.

Why is it OK to use horses, but, not elephants?

I am not an expert, so I stick with those who are!

Horses seem to be well better "equipped" for riding on them, then Elephants are!

You are also not playing fetch with an Elephant, but with a dog!

Some animals (pigs, cows, horses, dogs) have been domesticated for and bred into being, what they are!

Elephants are still captured in the wild and then "trained" into submission!

Think about, why that might be!

[English_M_in_Bkk]

.

Yeah......I thought so.

Unable to answer a very simple question. Some "expert" you are, but then, we only have your say so on that, don't we?

As this is just a simple question, why "horses and not elephants", this is a problem of individual view-points. Nothing to do with animal husbandry.

As you haven't defined a single reason why I don't have a "valid argument", I'll put you down as a blow-hard who always thinks they're the smartest person in the room.

We do live in the information age - Google is your friend, just look it up about why elephants are not like horses and shouldn't be 'broken' so they can be ridden. Also look up why this breaking period is so cruel and inhumane.

It ain't rocket science

[Robbie Dye]

They tend not to dive, unlike the modern grossly overpaid football player!

[English_M_in_Bkk]

These elephants are already broken. They are domesticated, working elephants.

Horses are also broken.

So......my question still stands as you certainly haven't answered all of it.

In your opinion you think that these elephants should not play polo. Fair enough.

So why can horses be used for polo and even horse racing for our amusement?

As a matter of fact I did Google elephant polo. Did you know that Scotland were the World Champions in 2004 and 2005?

I gave up after five pages looking for any negative articles.

Seems this is an internationally recognized sport.

Bear baiting was an internationally recognized sport once...

You don't seem to grasp the fact that it is not just about playing polo, it is about the fact that to get an elephant to play any kind of sport, have humans ride on it etc, you have to do horrible cruel things to it, you have to break it in. Like I said, use Google to find out...

Elephants are a wild animal, and should either be in the wild or sanctuaries not running around polo fields for the amusement of some idiots.

As for horses, there a lot of people who would argue that horses too shouldn't be raced etc. I may be wrong here, but to get a horse to cooperate with humans and be ridden does not take the cruelty that is does for an elephant. That is the difference!

[cumgranosalum]

These elephants are already broken. They are domesticated, working elephants.

Horses are also broken.

So......my question still stands as you certainly haven't answered all of it.

In your opinion you think that these elephants should not play polo. Fair enough.

So why can horses be used for polo and even horse racing for our amusement?

As a matter of fact I did Google elephant polo. Did you know that Scotland were the World Champions in 2004 and 2005?

I gave up after five pages looking for any negative articles.

Seems this is an internationally recognized sport.

"These elephants are already broken" - your words!!!!

BTW - elephants are NOT domesticated - again you are displaying a profound lack of understanding of even the basics of the topic.

Rule of thumb with elephants - if you ride them you exploit them. Now KB - if you don't know why, don't expect me to tell you find out for yourself.,

Edited March 10, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[English_M_in_Bkk]

These elephants are already broken. They are domesticated, working elephants.

Horses are also broken.

So......my question still stands as you certainly haven't answered all of it.

In your opinion you think that these elephants should not play polo. Fair enough.

So why can horses be used for polo and even horse racing for our amusement?

As a matter of fact I did Google elephant polo. Did you know that Scotland were the World Champions in 2004 and 2005?

I gave up after five pages looking for any negative articles.

Seems this is an internationally recognized sport.

You don't seem to grasp the fact that it is not just about playing polo, it is about the fact that to get an elephant to play any kind of sport, have humans ride on it etc, you have to do horrible cruel things to it, you have to break it in. Like I said, use Google to find out...

Elephants are a wild animal, and should either be in the wild or sanctuaries not running around polo fields for the amusement of some idiots.

As for horses, there a lot of people who would argue that horses too shouldn't be raced etc. I may be wrong here, but to get a horse to cooperate with humans and be ridden does not take the cruelty that is does for an elephant. That is the difference!

These are just your personal opinions, and you know what they say about those.

Read the link.

http://www.elephantpolo.com/index.php/conservation/elephants

as quoted from the website "The elephants are extremely intelligent, sensitive and sociable." so stop riding them, stop the cruel practice of breaking them in and stop making them do dumbass sports. They belong with their own kind in the wild, not some toy for idiot humans.

[derator01]

Please, no more posts about horses. And show respect to other members.

[Wilsonandson]

Here's a video of this year's event. Seems to me that the elephants are enjoying themselves and all in the name of charity. Well done! A great day out for all.

The video is from The Guardian, U.K

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XMgTV8QLAHU