India’s Amber Fort elephant joyrides come under fire from animal rights protesters
- Jaipur protesters call to ban elephant rides for tourists at the Amber Fort, one of the country’s top attractions
- The combined weight on the elephant’s back of two tourists, the elephant keeper and the clunky wooden seat can be up to 300kg
Animal rights protesters took to the streets on bicycles in the Indian city of Jaipur on Sunday, demanding an end to elephants being used to carry tourists to one of the country’s top attractions, the Amber Fort.
Encouraging the use of bicycles rather than burdening elephants was the aim of the protest, organised by the animal charity World Animal Protection (WAP) to mark World Elephant Day on Monday.
About 100 elephants carry tourists along the kilometre-long path up the hill to the fort. It is a steep climb on hard cobbled stones. The combined weight on the elephant’s back of two tourists, the mahout (elephant keeper) and the clunky wooden seat that holds passengers can be up to 300kg (660 pounds).
“It’s not just a question of the cruel methods that are used to train them to make them docile but also the fact that many are in dire need of medical help. The ailments range from tuberculosis, blood problems, blindness, malnourishment, and foot injuries from walking on hard surfaces,” says WAP’s Kirsty Warren.
Animal rights groups in the city have been campaigning against the elephant rides for several years now and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is fighting a case in the courts.
But the groups have had little luck beyond persuading the tourist department to limit the number of passengers from the previous maximum of four to two, and the number of rides a day to five in winter and three in summer.
