Elephant Tourism Research Articles

Wicked Problems, Novel Solutions: Nepalese Elephant Tourism and Conservation.

Endangered Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) find themselves at the center of debates involving politics, land use, human-wildlife conflict, and environmental justice. The intensity of such debates has led scholars to label conservation challenges as wicked problems with profound implications on local and global practice. In elephant range states such as Nepal, these debates are made more complex through human 'ownership' of endangered individuals for use in tourism, worship, or co-work. Human perspectives on the ethics of using animals for tourism are changing, even in areas heavily reliant on the tourism industry for survival. These debates become inflamed when non-residents take on adversarial positions despite an acceptance of the 'ownership' or 'use' of endangered individuals among local communities. Novel approaches are needed if there is any hope of establishing a common ground upon which to build relationships which may benefit community members, international interests, and endangered individuals.

Understanding Thailand’s tourism industry from the perspective of tweets: A qualitative content analysis using NVivo 12.0

Social media provide a variety of possibilities for tourist destination selection and bring new opportunities and challenges to the development of Thailand’s tourism industry. This study aims to examine Thailand’s tourism development through the lens of social media users via content analysis and find ways to improve Thailand’s tourism marketing strategies within social media. A dataset consisting of 10,008 tweets was utilized. Grounded theory is conducted to finish the open coding, axis coding, and selective coding process within NVivo 12.0, resulting in nine dimensions: the development of cities, elephant tourism development, Thailand perspective, the development of the tourism industry, tourism story, the development of tourist, tourism for Asian development, travel development perspective and cannabis. Subsequently, word frequency, sentiment, and cluster analyses were performed on those topics. The findings highlighted the critical elements of Thailand’s tourism development in social media, including cities, tourists, industries, stories, animals, and cannabis. In addition, the study identified popular tourist attractions and destinations within Thailand’s tourism development, as well as the positive impact of tourism on the economy, market, and urban development. Concurrently, Twitter users expressed concerns regarding sex tourism, cannabis, medical tourism, ecology, agriculture, and unrest in Thailand.

Elephant tourism: An analysis and recommendations for public health, safety, and animal welfare

Background: Elephants are exploited for public entertainment tourism throughout Asia and Africa. Areas of concern include public health and safety and animal welfare. Materials and Methods: We examined over 500 scientific publications with respect to our primary objectives, as well as non-peer-reviewed materials relating to other relevant subject matters (e.g., tourism promotional websites and YouTube films) for background purposes, although these additional materials were not included in this review. Results: We identified at least 12 confirmed or potential zoonotic and other transmissible infections relevant to the elephant tourism sector, and at least 13 areas of animal welfare concern. Conclusion: Infection and injury risks between humans and captive elephants cannot be safely controlled where close contact experiences are involved, arguably creating an unredeemable and indefensible public health and safety situation. Elephant welfare within some sectors of the close contact interactive tourism industry continues to involve significant mistreatment and abuse. To alleviate key One Health concerns outlined in this study, we recommend several types of regulation, monitoring, and control regarding interactions at the human-captive elephant interface. These include legal bans on the promotion and performance of close contact experiences, combined with strong enforcement protocols; new policies toward discouraging elephant tourism; 24/7 surveillance of captive elephants; and the adoption of independent scientific positive list systems for tourism promoters or providers regarding public observation of free-ranging elephants within national parks and protected areas. Keywords: animal welfare, elephant tourism, One Health, public health, safety, zoonoses.

Examining attention given to threats to elephant conservation on social media

AbstractAlthough social media is growing rapidly as a news source, including for disseminating conservation information, studies comparing attention given to differing threats to species on social media are almost non‐existent. As the amount of attention given to differing threats can influence what people perceive to be important and impact the formation of environmental policies, it is vital that conservationists understand which issues are being discussed online. Using elephants (Loxodonta Africana,Loxodonta cyclotis, andElephas maximus) as test species, we conducted a content analysis of tweets about elephants posted to Twitter during 2019. According to the global conservation authority, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the most pressing threats to the conservation of wild elephant populations are habitat loss, human‐elephant conflict, and poaching, with the magnitude of each threat differing between the three species of elephants. Our Twitter analysis revealed that these major threats were infrequently discussed, with habitat loss being the most infrequently discussed (<1% of all tweets). Instead, elephant welfare issues, such as tourist elephant rides, were the most frequently discussed topic (23%). Users from non‐elephant range countries were the dominant voice on Twitter (72% of tweets with an identifiable location), with these tweets likely to discuss elephant welfare concerns and trophy hunting, which is not a threat to elephant conservation. Conversely, tweets from users from African elephant range countries (14%) were more likely to discuss human‐elephant conflict, poaching, and promote elephant tourism. Similarly, users from Asian elephant range countries (13%) were likely to discuss human‐elephant conflict and elephant tourism but unlikely to tweet about poaching. Given the relatively low representation of local stakeholders and the limited coverage of key conservation threats, there is a need to ensure that social media discussions do not overly influence decision‐makers.

Meaning of luxury in hospitality: An analysis of multiple destinations

As the expanding consciousness platform advances in tourism research and practice, the inclusion of animal welfare has increasingly become a topic of debate. However, research indicates that tourists continue to have difficulty assessing animals' welfare at wildlife tourism attractions, and so there is an immediate need for more education on such impacts. The purpose of this paper is to fill this education knowledge gap by introducing an environmental literacy framework, i.e., “what an environmentally literate person should know and be able to do,” in progressing from animal welfare illiteracy in tourism to literacy. The framework is applied to elephant tourism in Thailand using current knowledge on elephant welfare physiology, behaviour, and ethics.

An animal welfare literacy framework for tourism

As the expanding consciousness platform advances in tourism research and practice, the inclusion of animal welfare has increasingly become a topic of debate. However, research indicates that tourists continue to have difficulty assessing animals' welfare at wildlife tourism attractions, and so there is an immediate need for more education on such impacts. The purpose of this paper is to fill this education knowledge gap by introducing an environmental literacy framework, i.e., “what an environmentally literate person should know and be able to do,” in progressing from animal welfare illiteracy in tourism to literacy. The framework is applied to elephant tourism in Thailand using current knowledge on elephant welfare physiology, behaviour, and ethics.

Behaviour and Welfare Impacts of Releasing Elephants from Overnight Tethers: A Zimbabwean Case Study.

Simple SummaryIn the southern African elephant tourism industry, many elephants are routinely chained or tethered for prolonged periods of time, particularly overnight. There are many negative implications of such restrictive management on elephant welfare. In this pilot study, a group of four male semi-captive African elephants at a tourist facility in Zimbabwe were being taken off overnight tethers and put into small pens, as a strategy to improve elephant welfare. Behavioural data were collected when elephants were on tethers, and approximately four weeks and eight weeks after removal of tethers. Behavioural changes were noted, after removal of tethers, which were indicative of improved welfare (e.g., increased lying rest, increased positive social behaviour and reduced abnormal repetitive behaviours). Importantly, there were no significant increases in aggression (either to their human handlers or to other elephants) following this change in management. To improve elephant welfare in southern African tourism facilities, we strongly advocate management practices which enable greater choice and freedom of movement overnight, which includes ceasing the use of overnight tethers and provision of opportunities for physical interaction with other elephants overnight. Within the southern African elephant tourism industry, chaining or tethering elephants is still a relatively routine practice, despite the known negative impacts. Cited reasons for chaining include fear of aggressive interactions between elephants when handlers are absent, or a general increase in expression of aggressive behaviours (both to other elephants and to their human handlers). In Zimbabwe, concerns expressed include the danger of elephants escaping and entering human-inhabited areas. Four male semi-captive elephants at a Zimbabwe tourist facility were taken off overnight (~12 h) tethers and were placed in small pens (‘bomas’), approximate sizes from 110 m2 to 310 m2), as part of a strategy to improve elephant welfare. Behavioural data were collected from overnight videos from December 2019 to March 2020, between 18:00 to 06:00, using focal, instantaneous sampling (5-min interval). Data were collected for three nights at three time periods: (i) Tethered; (ii) approximately four weeks post-release; (iii) approximately eight weeks post-release. Behavioural change over these time points was analysed using general linear models with quasibinomial error structures. Behavioural changes indicative of improved welfare were observed following these management changes, and no significant increases in aggression were observed either between elephants, or towards their human handlers. Proportion of time engaging in lying rest was higher in the first month after release from tethering (mean ± SD, 50 ± 14%) than when elephants were tethered (20 ± 18%) (p < 0.05). Additionally, although not statistically significant, stereotypies were reduced when elephants were no longer tethered (4 ± 6% observations tethered compared to 2 ± 2% off tethers), and positive social behaviour also increased (1 ± 1% on tethers, 2 ± 2% off tethers), with the greatest improvements seen in the pair-housed elephants. To improve elephant welfare in southern African tourism facilities we strongly advocate that less restrictive management practices which enable greater choice and freedom of movement overnight are implemented.

Your happiness or mine: Influence of affective states and level of contact on public perceptions of elephant tourism

AbstractMany captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Thailand participate in the tourism industry at attractions known as ‘elephant camps.’ There has been significant criticism of low welfare venues, where the elephants may experience injuries, poor nutrition, unnatural social environments and aversive handling. Despite increasing concern for animal welfare, the general public often have difficulty identifying the welfare issues affecting captive animals. The aim of this study was to investigate participants’ willingness to support an elephant attraction and their perceived emotional value from the experience, based on the affective state of the captive elephant and their level of contact with it. Participants (n = 590) from the United States were randomly assigned to one of four vignettes (using a 2 × 2 experimental design) that described an elephant attraction, varying the affective state of the elephant (feels excellent, feels terrible) and the level of contact they could have with the elephant (low, high). A mixed methods approach was used, where participants provided answers to Likert-type questions, followed by an open-ended response. Participants showed greater willingness to support the elephant attraction and greater perceived emotional value from the experience when the elephant felt excellent, as opposed to when the elephant felt terrible. There were no significant differences between low and high contact for the measures included in this study. Qualitative responses varied greatly, with participants making many assumptions about the elephant and the attraction, revealing potential misconceptions that they had regarding the welfare of captive elephants. This research may be used to encourage a shift in tourism preferences to venues that reflect positive elephant welfare.

Does the experience make a difference? Comparing tourist attitudes pre- and post-visit towards the elephant tourism industry

Animal welfare is a significant issue in wildlife tourism and is becoming an important component in tourists' decisions. This study explored the type of tourists who most likely visit different elephant tourism venues and compared tourist attitudes pre-and post-visit. We surveyed 132 tourists at 12 venues in Thailand. We found that participant age was the clearest indicator for the type of venue they were likely to visit and that home location and welfare standards at venues had the greatest effect on attitudes post-visit. Results suggest elephant welfare can be an important factor for some tourists; therefore, efforts should be made to increase public awareness of the issues within elephant tourism venues which could lead to positive attitude and behaviour change.

How Tourist Preference and Satisfaction Can Contribute to Improved Welfare Standards at Elephant Tourism Venues in Thailand.

Simple SummaryTourists who visit elephant tourism venues (ETVs), and other wildlife attractions, can influence the activities offered at these venues by positive and negative word-of-mouth. When a person has a good experience and they tell their family and friends, or leave reviews online, this can influence people to participate in the activity. The same is also true when a person has a bad experience; although, in this instance, they can influence people not to participate in the activity, limiting the possible success of that venue. Generally, tourists seem to prefer to visit ETVs that allow elephants to behave naturally over those that make their elephants entertain tourists. Therefore, we visited twelve ETVs in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and compared the opinions of tourists who visited riding and non-riding venues towards the use of captive elephants for entertainment. We found that tourists who reported a preference for ETVs with higher welfare standards had personally seen elephants being treated poorly. Additionally, higher welfare standards may positively affect tourists’ satisfaction with their experience. Therefore, tourists can influence the activities offered at ETVs by demanding better living conditions for elephants and only financially supporting ETVs with higher welfare standards.Consumer satisfaction and preference can be integral in influencing and solidifying change in user-driven industries such as tourism. High satisfaction rates are imperative to the continual success of a venue as satisfaction determines the likelihood of repeat business and positive recommendations to friends, family and online review forums. Tourist preference for ecocentric tourism venues, over anthropocentric ones, appears to be increasing in elephant tourism venues (ETVs) in Thailand. To explore this, we visited twelve ETVs in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and compared the preferences and satisfaction of tourists who visited riding and non-riding venues toward the use of captive elephants in an entertainment setting. We found that tourists visited riding and non-riding ETVs for similar reasons, primarily due to recommendations from friends and reviews, and because the venue had a good reputation. Tourist preference for higher welfare standards was observed at venues where participants directly observed poor treatment of the elephants. Tourist satisfaction may be impacted by higher elephant welfare standards; therefore, tourists have the ability to influence the elephant tourism industry by demanding better living conditions for elephants and only financially supporting ETVs with higher welfare standards.

Welfare Assessment and Activities of Captive Elephants in Thailand.

Simple SummaryIn Thailand, captive elephants are used in tourism and involved in a variety of activities, such as feeding, bathing, riding, or just observation. The welfare of these elephants has been a topic of intense debate in recent years, resulting in divergent opinions on what are or are not appropriate uses. This paper summarizes the current status of captive elephants in Thailand, highlighting issues and challenges facing elephant tourism today. We review recent welfare studies conducted to understand how tourist activities affect welfare outcomes and provide recommendations for the future. Captive elephants in Thailand must be managed under human care with good practices aimed at meeting welfare needs to ensure healthy, sustainable populations. Our goal is to provide information to elephant facilities on best practices, and relay findings to governmental and tourist organizations in Thailand to ensure the welfare and sustainability of this important species.Thailand is the epicenter of elephant tourism and visiting an elephant camp is a popular activity according to the Tourist Authority of Thailand. However, the welfare of these elephants has been questioned by animal activist groups, international tour operators, and the public. Conclusions that the vast majority of captive elephants are abused often are based on anecdotal evidence and not solid science. So, it is difficult to tease apart emotion, opinion, and fact with regard to what practices are good or bad for elephant welfare. The aim of this paper was to: (1) describe the unique status of captive elephants in Thailand and associated regulations, (2) summarize current issues and challenges facing elephant tourism, (3) review studies conducted on welfare of tourist elephants in Thailand, and (4) offer recommendations for how elephants can be properly cared for under captive conditions in tourist camps. We conclude there are many ways to manage these elephants, and that not all tourist activities are bad for welfare. However, it is essential they be managed in a way that meets physical, physiological and psychological needs, and that management decisions are based on objective data.

Situating animal ethics in Thai elephant tourism

Following ethical contextualism, this article situates different animal ethical principles, from anthropocentrism to non‐anthropocentrism and relational caring ethics, in Thai social contexts in order to examine whether these principles can lead to a sustainable ethical practice in elephant conservation. The results show that, as non‐anthropocentrism, animal rights ethics are impractical in Thailand because of temporal, spatial, economic and social constraints. As weak anthropocentrism, animal welfare ethics endorse the tourism industry to commercialise the encounter value of elephants by developing elephant camps. Along with animal welfare, relational ecofeminism justifies the emerging model of elephant sanctuaries. Both camp and sanctuary models create a work‐for‐care cycle, in which elephants work to generate economic gains, some of which are in turn used to care for elephants. However, because of evolving social situations, such as potential market competition and poaching of wild elephants, the morality of the work‐for‐care cycle is weak and can be challenged. Nevertheless, sanctuaries offer a direction for a local solution because of their potentially responsible business model. In conclusion, there is not a single set of ethics that can solve all problems and be sustainable in all contexts.

Elephant Tourism in Thailand: A Review of Animal Welfare Practices and Needs

ABSTRACTElephant tourism in Thailand has developed into an important socio-economic factor after a logging ban initiated in 1989 resulted in thousands of out-of-work elephants. However, the welfare of captive elephants has been a topic of intense debate among tourists, scientists and stakeholders because of the range of working conditions and management practices to which they are exposed. The aim of this paper is to summarize the current state of knowledge on captive elephant welfare, with an emphasis on tourist elephants in Thailand, and highlight information gaps and recommendations for future directions. Tourist-oriented elephant camps could improve the welfare of elephants through better management practices that take into account physiological and psychological needs of individual animals, including meeting social and nutritional requirements, providing good health care, and maintaining adequate facilities. Our goal is to develop science-based guidelines that government agencies can use to develop an enforceable set of practical regulations to ensure good management of tourist elephants in Thailand.

The international political economy of tourism and the neoliberalisation of nature: Challenges posed by selling close interactions with animals

ABSTRACT This paper examines the inter-relationships between neoliberalism, tourism and nature. It argues that scholars of international political economy (IPE) need to engage more fully with the role of nature in driving forward the logics of neoliberalism. Most scholars view nature as a source of accumulation or as an object of governance, but this paper uses the neoliberalisation of nature debate to extend our understandings of neoliberalism. In particular, global tourism has targeted and opened up new frontiers in nature, which serves to expand and deepen neoliberalism to a wider range of biophysical phenomena. This paper uses the case of elephant tourism to demonstrate how tourism is not just reflective of neoliberalism, but is in fact a key driver of it, acting as an environmental fix for capitalism. Further, this paper takes up the challenge of research on ‘actually existing neoliberalisms’ via engagement with locally specific contexts and emerging forms of socio-nature in the Thai tourism industry. It reveals how neoliberalism redraws the boundaries of access to nature, thereby shifting the distribution of costs and benefits. Hence, nature is one of the primary ways in which neoliberalism is constituted, albeit in a highly differentiated way. This reminds us not to reify neoliberalism and accord it a greater degree of power and coherence than it really has.

Global regulations and local practices: the politics and governance of animal welfare in elephant tourism

This paper examines challenges associated with global regulation of the tourism industry via an analysis of the use of elephants for trekking and safaris in Thailand and Botswana. It highlights inherent problems in applying universal principles in diverse locations; it unpicks the North–South power dynamics involved in drawing up global standards for elephant welfare in tourism. The development and expansion of elephant riding raise important ethical issues around questions of animal welfare, especially definitions of acceptable and appropriate standards for working animals. This paper uses a political economy approach to understandings of global governance to analyse who has the power to govern, at what scale and with what effects. It examines the role of animal welfare NGOs as key epistemic communities shaping the debate on elephant welfare. It discusses the highly variable practices of working with elephants in Botswana and in Thailand. It concludes that attempts at global regulation need to seriously engage with local level practices if global standards are to be workable and acceptable for tour operators, animal welfare NGOs, elephant camp owners and tourists alike. It raises leading global governance issues and discussions of the role of NGOs in governance, in general.