BELFAST TELEGRAPH ARTICLE ON ELEPHANT POLO

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Elephant Polo: A Rumble With The Jumbos

It started life on the back of a beer mat. But 25 years on, elephant polo

boasts corporate sponsorship and competitions that draw teams from across

the globe. Jonathan Thompson packs his trunk to discover why

16 October 2006

 

The giant golden gong echoes around the ground and suddenly we're off,

thundering across the pitch like an out-of-control juggernaut. Hanging on

for dear life with one hand, I raise my stick with the other, lean sideways

out of the saddle as far as I dare, and take a swing at the tiny white ball

bouncing towards us.

Players sit 8 feet off the ground as they practice

 

" Aaaaah. " The noise from the crowd confirms what I already know: that I have

completely and utterly missed it. As a small boy, I had often dreamed of

what my first inter-national sporting fixture might be like, but it was

always more along the lines of England versus Germany at Wembley, rather

than astride a four-ton elephant named Dodo in the jungles of northern

Thailand.

 

Welcome to the Golden Triangle, the infamous tip of Thailand where the

" country of smiles " meets Laos and Myanmar (Burma). These vaporous jungles,

hills and valleys nestling alongside the twisting Mekong river were once the

beating heart of the world's opium trade. In recent years, though, on the

Thai side at least, tourism has replaced opium as the source of hard cash.

 

Last month, for the first time, the resurgent region played host to the

King's Cup, one of the biggest international events in a sport which this

year celebrates its 25th anniversary - elephant polo. Competing were 12

teams who between them had travelled from five different continents to the

quaint Thai border town of Chiang Saen, about 60km north of the city Chiang

Rai.

 

Polo, the champagne-and-ponies version at least, traces its origins to

ancient Persia, and is one of several pastimes which purport to be the sport

of kings. The introduction of pachyderms has produced a version described by

one writer as " like trying to hit a golf ball from the top deck of a bus " .

Yet in the quarter of a century since it began, elephant polo has gone from

being a gimmick to a seriously competitive affair, with established

international rules, a complicated player handicapping system and big-name

sponsors.

 

Like all good ideas, elephant polo came about as a result of a few too many

drinks in a bar one evening. In this case it happened at the St Moritz

Tobogganing Club in 1981. Jim Edwards, an English hotelier who runs the

famous Tiger Tops hunting lodge in Nepal, hatched the concept with the

Scottish adventurer, entrepre-neur and former Olympic bobsleigh competitor

James Manclark.

 

" I knew he was serious because he bought me a drink, and it was the first

time that had ever happened, " jokes Edwards, who has now retired from the

game but is in Chiang Saen to enjoy the King's Cup. " Elephant polo has come

such a long way since then. The basics have really evolved: the animals are

trained from a young age, we have smaller, more competitive pitches, and

much better sticks. There are around 200 serious players now - although the

elephants won't let us take it too seriously, of course. "

 

This is the sixth year of the Cup, which takes place annually with royal

consent - a valuable commodity in Thailand - organised by the Anantara

resort group. This year it has relocated to the elephants' natural habitat,

the Golden Triangle, having transferred from its usual home, the southern

beach resort of Hua Hin.

 

It is in front of a sea of fluttering corporate banners, not to mention a

crowd of 3,000 or so, that I find myself under the ferocious mid-September

sun, desperately trying to get some kind of purchase on the ball a good

eight feet beneath me. I am playing in the very first match of the

tournament, a curtain-raiser between an international media team and one of

the Thai national sides.

 

Attempting to make myself heard over the noise of the crowd, I shout

dir-ections to the small mahout sitting in front of me, who is steering the

elephant with a combination of whispered commands and his bare feet, as he

nudges the beast's huge ears. It's of little use; Dodo has already decided

where we're going next. A quick lurch to the right, and we're bounding off

down the pitch again, with me hanging on like a desperate rodeo rider.

 

After the requisite two chukkas of seven minutes each we come out 1-0

losers, thanks to an impressive last-minute backhanded shot from one of the

Thai players. I comfort myself with the fact that this is a pretty good

result considering our opponents are all seasoned veterans. Only one of our

four-man squad, comprising representatives from the US, Hong Kong, England

and Ireland, has ever ridden an elephant before.

 

As the scorer acknow-ledges the cheers of the crowd, his elephant shows her

appreciation by defecating in the penalty area. Almost instantly, the King's

Cup equivalent of Wimbledon's ball-boys sprint on to the pitch. Hefting big

blue buckets and wearing elbow-high rubber gloves, they scoop up the

still-steaming pile of dung before scampering off again, allowing the

referee to restart the match, and the final seconds to be played out.

 

Interestingly, the elephants appear to enjoy the game almost as much as

their human counterparts. As the three-a-side tournament progresses, they

bellow, trumpet and gambol their way through the matches, with a few of them

displaying a rudimentary knowledge of the rules by kicking the ball ahead of

them before chasing after it.

 

John Roberts, Anantara's grandly titled " Director of Elephants " , explains

that the animals are carefully chosen, based not just on size but on

fitness, age and mentality. " They enjoy chasing the ball and enjoy being out

there, " says Roberts, 32, an Englishman. " There is certainly an

understanding of what is going on.

 

" In fact, they often play games among themselves. The young ones will throw

a plastic bag up in the air and to each other, and the older ones will bully

them in order to get it. "

 

Sadly, it is estimated that there are now only 4,000 elephants in Thailand,

with just 1,500 of these in the wild. It is a shocking decline from a

population of around 50,000 in 1950, and 100,000 in 1900, given that

elephants enjoy a lifespan similar to that of humans.

 

Roberts believes that events like this, whichraise tens of thousands of

pounds for the National Elephant Institute in nearby Lampang, can only help

to highlight the creatures' plight, one worsened by the fact that

traditional logging in Thailand, in which elephants were once an integral

part, is now almost entirely mechanised.

 

" The Asian elephant is now an endangered species, " says Roberts. " This event

is a lot of fun for all concerned, but more importantly it's also a chance

to raise awareness of that situation. Whoever lifts the King's Cup [for the

record, it was the life.com team], hopefully it's the elephants will end up

as the winners. "

 

*THE COMPACT GUIDE*

 

HOW TO GET THERE

 

Flights from London Heathrow to Chiang Rai start from £480 with Thai Airways

(0870 606 0911; thaiairways.co.uk). For more details of Anantara Resorts:

anantara.com. UK bookings: travelmood.co.uk

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

 

To find out more about the World Elephant Polo Association: elephantpolo.com

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