Dogs have been bred as domesticated animals for hundreds of years so when we ask Fido to catch or heel or shake a paw, it’s in a dog’s nature to respond.
Elephants are born to live in the wild. As Rosemary Conder recently said in her Public Salon presentation, they share a lot of human attributes — “they have deep emotional bonds, they touch to greet each other, they flirt, they grieve and play jokes on each other” — but they are not bred to do as we command. That attribute has to be beaten into them.
Conder volunteers at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand when she’s not working as the chief development officer of the BC Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She’s witnessed the results of phajaan, which translates into “breaking the spirit.”
What usually happens is the mother elephant is killed and her baby is taken into captivity. “They are tormented and tortured until their spirit is broken” and will also display what can only be described as post-traumatic stress disorder.
She befriended a 71-year-old elephant named June. June spent 45 years dragging logs in logging camps and 20 years carrying tourists before she was tied up and abandoned because she was no longer able to do either task. It’s hard to fathom an emaciated elephant but that’s exactly what June was when she was rescued.
“Just because we don’t see the suffering it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening,” Conder said.
She encourages people to help put an end to phajaan by only seeing elephants in the wild.
On her last visit, she was rubbing June’s cheek before heading back to Vancouver. June suddenly pushed Conder’s arms open into a hug. It turned out to be a final farewell; June died last August.
Describing her profound admiration for elephants, Conder said “they have a capacity to remember and, I hope, forgive.”
If this article inspires you to get involved, Rosemary Conder suggests the following organizations:
1. Elephant Nature Park (light volunteering and spending time with elephants). ElephantNaturePark.org
2. Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary (not volunteering but spending time with elephant) BLESelele.org
3. Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand (intensive volunteering and spending time with elephants) wfft.org.
Here's the video of her Public Salon presentation. It will change the way you act as a tourist.
