How Safaris On The Back Of Elephants Affect Their Lives?

Elephants rides are common in African Safari due to a range of benefits. But do you know the actual reality behind them?

Many tourists love to experience the ride on elephant’s back and witness the wilderness of Africa. Watching the wild animals sitting from atop an elephant also means safety from sudden carnivore attacks while achieving a great view of the forest.

But do you know about the cruelty behind the rides, tricks and photo opportunities? If people come to know about this, it’s sure that most of them will not participate in such recreational rides.

Elephants that are held captive, are often tortured so that they can entertain others. That includes chaining and imprisonment, while makes them lonely and isolates them from their herd.

The scary truth behind elephant-back safaris

In order to make elephants let humans ride on their back, they are forced to a horrific training process called crush. An elephant is forced to learn the tricks with the help of a bullhook. The training process of crush is implied to literally break the spirit involving extreme physical restraints, severe pain and withholding water and food.

In general, elephants are naturally very intelligent, emotional and like to socialise themselves with others. These characteristics get completely changed after the training. This is mainly because of damaging their physique and psychology. When people come for a ride, things may seem to be peaceful, but the sad reality is often hidden from our eyes. This is why, experts suggest to opt for Africa custom tours where you choose what you want to include in the safari.

Other things to enjoy with elephants in an African safari

Enjoying a safari does not mean to ride on elephants. You can still do that while being inside a hired jeep or SUV. Also, it’s great to see a herd of tuskers from a distance. You can actually witness natural behaviour which cannot be experienced if you keep sitting on their back. In South Africa alone, there are 400 protected areas that offer great views of elephants. These are actually genuine elephant sanctuaries.

In these sanctuaries you can opt to visit the place on foot with a professional guide where you will be provided with in-depth information about African elephants. Being a social animal, they never come to harm visitors, provided you do not do the same. If wildlife photography is your passion, then African elephant sanctuaries are the best place to capture exceptional shots not only of the tuskers, but also of some inordinate birds that come to migration.

So before you opt for an African safari, it is recommended to consult with the travel agent properly so that no such rides are included in the tour.