[animalnepal] NE - Humane training methods for elephants introduced in Nepal

[Guest guest]

Well that's the question really, and I address this in next Friday's Nepali

Times article (I will post a link here when published). WHY are we training

elephants in the first place to do tasks that should be done by humans and

not by wild animals? To be sent to Zoos, Polo Tournaments, Jungle Resorts,

Temples, and Circuses? What gives us the right to turn elephants into pets?

Looking at the fate of most pet breeds in the world today, the future is not

bright if we let humans domesticate what's left of the world's elephant

population. Why not reclaim wild lands so these animals can live in peace,

just as they did long before mankind appeared on the scene. But this is a

radical point of view I fear, as the majority of today's so-called

conservationists focus on symptoms instead of root-causes for the disease we

know as animal abuse. If animals were left alone in their wild habitat, and

that was preserved as so many feel it should be, there would not be this

ever-burdening population of elephants to treat, or to give jobs to, and to

ultimately enslave and destroy. Perhaps we should attend these workshops and

ask the experts just what is the right action that elephants should be

taking when measures such as " light pressure " is applied. I would encourage

every elephant to trample their trainer in cases such as this, just to let

them know that there is nothing " right " about making an elephant do anything

it does not really want to do. And perhaps an extra stomp on the head of

" conservationists " is in order to help them realize that they should be out

protecting wild habitats instead of helping others train elephants to do

tricks for humans.

Jigme Gaton

AnimalNEPAL

 

 

 

> Lucia <lucia

> <animalnepal >

> Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:52:10 -0800

> <animalnepal >, <aapn >

> [animalnepal] NE - Humane training methods for elephants introduced

> in Nepal

>

> A very good initiative but the question is, what do we do with the trained

> elephants? What are 'humane' jobs for elephants?

>

> Experts plan to train tuskers

> Himalayan News Service Kathmandu, December 2:

>

> A group of international conservationists are working to develop training

> methods for safe handling of elephants.

> " Nepali and foreign trainers will work together from December 11 to 17 at

> the Elephant Breeding Centre at Khorsor of Chitwan to develop new methods

> to treat the elephants in humane and safe ways to develop a Nepali version

> of a training method that optimises the elephant's learning rate and the

> cooperative attitude towards people, " Anil Manandhar, the WWF country

> representative for Nepal, told this daily today.

> A workshop will also be organised to share experts' knowledge on issues

> like improving elephant health, nutrition, equipment and handling, he

> informed.

> " The experts at the workshops will include veterinarian Dr Kamal Gairhe

> from Nepal and Dr Andrew McLean from Australia, Tuikku Kaimio from Finland,

> Marc Pierard from Belgium, " Manandhar said.

> " Positive reinforcement is a method in which the elephant gets rewarded for

> the right actions during the training. Pressure release, the other method

> used, means that during training, the elephant is guided with as light

> pressure as possible, and each time the elephant performs the desired

> action, the pressure is immediately released, " he said, adding that the

> best efficiency in training is achieved when using both methods in

> combination.

> The workshops are being organised within the framework of the Terai Arc

> Landscape (TAL) programme.

>

> http://thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=aCXatKsbuzqea6Qa7qa6HNamal

> & folder=aCXatK & Name=City & sImageFileName= & dtSiteDate=2007120

> 3