"Phajaan"

Hi everybody, hope you're all well.

Just thought I'd share somehing shocking I only found out about only now. It got shared onto my Facebook timeline by somebody I know, its heart breaking. I'm sorry in advance if this upsets anyone...

Its called 'phajaan' which is a term that means 'elephant crushing'. Most most baby Aisan Elephants in the tourism trade have been through this process that aims to crush an elephants spirit or take the spirit away from the baby's body. As babies, they're taken away from their mothers and put in a tiny cage, big enough only for them to stand in. For six days following this, they're beaten in the most cruel ways.

Elephant trunks are the most sensitive part of their bodies as they're used to explore the world. During the process of 'phajaan' the elephants will be encouraged to stick their trunks out of the cage to investigate something, before being repeadedly beaken with bats, spears or whips. The idea, in the end is to crush the animals spirit so much that they will listen to every command. They're then sold to tour operaters for elephant rides or tours for tourists who don't know the cruelty behind what they're being sold.

Please, if you're going to South East Asia, steer clear of any "tourist attractions" that involve these amazing creatures, as phajaan will have most likely happened to them! I din'tknow anything about this before I read about it and researched more into it, its shocked me to the core that this goes on!

For more information or to find out how to help please visit either Right Tourism's campaign page or Responsible Travel.

#phajaan #elephant #elephantrides #tourism #cruelty #abuse