Yesterday my husband and I went to the elephant jungle sanctuary in phuket believing that it was ethical and a place where elephants had been rescued and could retire. However this is very much not the case. I saw about 8 elephants of varying ages. What was particularly disturbing was that a mother and a baby elephant were kept in a stable like enclosure almost all of the day and as far as I was aware were only let out to be fed by tourists. The mother was clearly distressed and continually weaved. However the men working there claimed that she was “dancing”. The baby seemed very energetic and quite out of control when it was out of the pen. Obviously being stuck in that environment does not suit any animal! It clearly wanted to be doing what it should be doing and at very least be able to move around the park. After seeing mother and baby we were told we could feed the elephants. There was about 6 people per elephant who could feed them bananas. The baby elephant was quite worrying as it seemed very bolshy. Towards the end of the feeding time a young man was feeding an adult elephant and the elephant must have thought his arm was food because he grabbed his arm and flung him like a rag doll. At which point the other elephants started to take note. I could not see...Yesterday my husband and I went to the elephant jungle sanctuary in phuket believing that it was ethical and a place where elephants had been rescued and could retire. However this is very much not the case. I saw about 8 elephants of varying ages. What was particularly disturbing was that a mother and a baby elephant were kept in a stable like enclosure almost all of the day and as far as I was aware were only let out to be fed by tourists. The mother was clearly distressed and continually weaved. However the men working there claimed that she was “dancing”. The baby seemed very energetic and quite out of control when it was out of the pen. Obviously being stuck in that environment does not suit any animal! It clearly wanted to be doing what it should be doing and at very least be able to move around the park. After seeing mother and baby we were told we could feed the elephants. There was about 6 people per elephant who could feed them bananas. The baby elephant was quite worrying as it seemed very bolshy. Towards the end of the feeding time a young man was feeding an adult elephant and the elephant must have thought his arm was food because he grabbed his arm and flung him like a rag doll. At which point the other elephants started to take note. I could not see all of what happened but the young man was caught up under the elephant feet. It was awful. I really cannot describe how scary it was. Luckily the young man went to hospital and seemed to leave with cuts bruises and torn shorts but this could have been so much worse!!! All that was said was an apology and a claim that this did not normally happen. However I found the health and safety non existent. It also reaffirms the fact that these poor elephants were not enjoying a retirement they are still there as an attraction to make money at their expense!!! My husband and I and another lady we had met on the bus ride over left as soon as we could as we felt terribly upset for the elephants and for the young man and his partner who had to witness such a terrible accident. To top it off the staff gave us a lift out of the park to the top of the road where we then had to pay to get a taxi back to our hotels which were an hour away without even an explanation or apology.
The treatment of the elephants is disgusting and I have never been so scared for myself and the other tourists. Many chose to ignore what is going on here and the accident but I would 100% advice against going here. Not what they claim to be at all and the elephants are definitely not retired!!!!!More