Elephant spines cannot support the weight of people and if ridden all day, will result in spinal injuries. Further the clunky chair ( howdah ) attached to the elephant’s back rubs back and forth causing blisters which can become infected. Training elephants involves bullhooks and bamboo sticks spiked with nails to crush animal spirits. Fortunately as awareness increases, tourists are no longer riding elephants and the lack of interest is closing these tour operations down. But clearly there are still some self serving knuckleheads out there….
