Elephant Polo : Article in Far Eastern Economic Review

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The Perks of Elephant Polo by Ron Gluckman

 

*Posted April 3, 2009** *

 

*Three massive beasts* faced off on opposite ends of a field, festooned in

colorful battle dress, an adrenaline-charged warrior strapped onto each

elephant. For centuries, these enormous mammals 'the world's first

tanks' helped determine the rise and ebb of empires around this opium-rich

region, dubbed the Golden Triangle, for the poppy fields that once flourished

where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma meet.

 

Now they take to the field for sport. Teams of elephants sparred on a soccer

pitch in farthest north Thailand from March 23-29. Players wielded not

weapons, but long wickets, seated behind a Thai elephant handler, or mahout.

The mahout kicked and exhorted the elephant to trundle about the field.

Spectators cheered players swinging sticks in huge windmill twirls, trying

to bat the ball into one of the goals on opposite ends of the field.

 

Such is the essence of elephant polo, which is surely more comical to

witness than describe. Fans term it the largest, slowest sport on land.

Then, there is the player perspective, bouncing around on a creature more

suited to cartoons than competitive sports. 'This is totally silly,'

conceded Claire McNicholl, captain of the Nellies, an all-women team. 'The

important thing is to not take yourself too serious.'

 

Yet there is a serious side to what, on the surface, might seem a ludicrous

sport - if a bunch of drunken ex-pats cursing large, insanely stubborn and

slow-moving beasts, can be called sport. Elephant polo annually stages a

series of comical jousts amidst a boozy week-long bash, hosted by luxury

resorts in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Beer, wine and Pims are consumed

by the bucket-load, but cash is also raised to benefit elephants, in

similarly impressive quantities. In the past, the field follies have

bankrolled elephant rescue, research and Thailand's first elephant

ambulance.

 

Nobody really knows the origins of elephant polo, but it's not hard to

imagine bored British officers, based in a remote outpost of the Raj, spying

a few megaton mammals, and sizing them up for saddles and sticks. The

evolution of this goofy game into the World Elephant Polo Association,

complete with a 50-page rule book, began in 1982, when Jim Edwards and James

Manclark, rightfully reckoned it would be a funny way for jetsetters to pass the

time.

 

Both are legends among Asian adventurers. Mr. Manclark tried to circle the

world by balloon, and represented Great Britain at the Olympics in the luge

and the bobsled. He opened the Golden Triangle games with a stirring eulogy

of Edwards, who died March 23, the very day that the polo association the

pair co-founded returned to Thailand for the 2009 cup qualifiers. Born in

1935, Edwards was a true original, driving across jungle and mountains to

reach Nepal in the 1960s, then pioneering trekking and tourism ventures

before taking over the famed Tiger Tops lodge. Long before the Asian travel

trail was littered with Internet cafes, Edwards turned his remote Nepalese

hideaway into a hip refuge for bohemian guests and celebrities.

 

Some of those early stars played in the first elephant-polo matches, which

not only attracted writers from around the globe, but also corporate

sponsors. �It all came together by accident,� Edwards said in an interview

at an earlier polo match. �We pretty much made it up as we went along. In

the beginning, we weren�t even sure if it was a sport,� he chuckled, �but

it

was a good excuse for a party.�

 

The first games set the tone for what has surely become one of the world�s

oddest sporting events. Borrowing its structure from horse polo, the field

was shorter because of the lazy jaunt of elephants and the sticks were

lengthened. One early attendee summed up the unique challenge of elephant

polo thusly: �Like playing one-handed golf from the top of a double-decker

bus with a puncture.� Still, the quirky competition had an odd appeal,

especially to the adventurous jet-set in Asia, who were attracted by the

celebrities, camaraderie and kitschy competition, as much as the cause. Word

of mouth spurred elephant polo from the mountaintops of Nepal to the beaches

of Thailand and Sri Lanka.

 

Geoffrey Dobbs tells how the sport washed ashore six years ago in Sri Lanka,

where the former Hong Kong resident had relocated to open a pair of boutique

hotels. �I was having a dinner party one evening on an island I also own,

off the coast from my hotels, and two of the guests canceled at the last

minute. I called the hotel and asked: �You have any interesting guests who

might like to join us�?� Peter Prentice was on his honeymoon, but regaled

his host with tales of a higher love: jousting atop pachyderms. Mr.

Prentice, a pitchman for Chivas Regal, has become poster boy for elephant

polo, as much for over two decades of play and numerous trophies, as the

booming voice behind the sport�s theatrical play-by-plays. Mr. Dobbs was

easily swayed by such passion at their first dinner meeting in 2003. �It was

one of those serendipitous moments,� he recalled. �Two months later, I was

in Nepal watching them play, and four months later they were in Sri Lanka,

playing on the beach.�

 

There have been loads of other serendipitous moments, as elephant polo

conquered another beach south of Bangkok, in Hua Hin, where American

entrepreneur Bill Heinecke was looking for new attractions for his Anantara

resort. The Hua Hin polo matches drew the entire scope of Bangkok society.

One team, the Screwless Tuskers, featured a group of ladyboys. During one

match, play halted when one of the Tuskers accidently dropped a falsie on

the course. That wasn�t covered by the rule book�but an elephant laying in

front of the goal or stomping the ball are both penalties.

 

In 2006, the Thai games moved to a new home in the Golden Triangle. Mr.

Heinecke�s Minor Corporation owns a pair of hotels run by Four Seasons and

its own Anantara brand. Both properties not only host a herd of elephants,

but celebrate the mammals in every aspect of design, from fixtures to

fountains. With 160 acres, the Anantara is practically an elephant

sanctuary, and that�s the idea, according to staff elephant specialist John

Roberts. Elephants working the streets of Bangkok are rescued and returned

to something like the wild in an innovative scheme that tackles one of

Thailand�s most tragic wildlife stories.

 

In the two decades since Thailand halted rampant logging, thousands of

elephants, the tractors and haulers for the industry, were thrown out of

work. Many handlers moved with the elephants to the city, working tourist

areas for handouts. Any visitor to the Thai capital has seen the

consequences, from the cute baby elephants begging for bananas outside bars,

to traffic jams squeezing around a full-grown goliath.

 

Prasop Tipprasert, an elephant specialist at the state-funded Thai Elephant

Conservation Center, has, over two decades, pioneered a variety of

alternatives: elephant orchestras to perform for tourists and elephant

painting. Elephant art has sold at auction for up to $2,000, while

recordings of elephant bands help offset upkeep of scores of pachyderms. Yet

he estimated that half of the domesticated elephants in Thailand are without

employment.

 

Hence, the migration of mahout and mammal to the cities. This is a

particularly tragic twist to the plight of elephants, which once ranged

across the whole of Asia, but are now extinct, endangered or in decline in

practically all of the 13 nations in which they survive. There may only be

40,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants left. Yet, only Thailand, with perhaps

4,000 to 5,000 elephants left from an estimated 100,000 a century ago, faces

an epidemic of urbanized elephants. Mr. Tipprasert said the lifespan of a

city elephant is typically around five years, a consequence of traffic,

pollution and especially the altered diet.

 

This is where rescue organizations like Anantara�s Golden Triangle Asian

Elephant Foundation come in. Elephants are taken off the streets and moved

to the resort grounds, where they become part of a diverse package of

elephant programs. Guests are given the chance to train as a mahout, wash

and feed the elephant, or simply marvel at the huge mammals. �We don�t buy

the elephants,� said Mr. Roberts. �If we did, the mahout would probably just

buy another one and go back to begging.� Mahouts, in a sense, become

subcontractors, given housing and a monthly salary, plus food for the

animal. In return, the mahouts provide trekking and other services for

guests.

 

At Four Seasons Tented Camp next door, that means parading to breakfast to

the oohs and ahs of guests every morning, but otherwise just foraging the

lush grounds. �The impact is huge,� said manager Michel Volk. �I�ve seen

guests tapping away on a blackberry, right on the verge of a stress

breakdown, then they go out with the elephants, and come back so relaxed.

It�s elephant therapy.� Guests, in turn, become benefactors for the beasts.

�They bond with them,� he said, �with particular elephants, and sponsor

them, paying for their upkeep for a year or two.� As a result, the rescue

program shared by both properties is self-sufficient. All the money raised

by polo goes to other elephant charities. Thus far, the Thailand games have

raised over $200,000 for elephant conservation programs.

 

Some think this could be a model for elephant survival in Asia. �Things for

elephants are getting worse,� Mr. Roberts said. �There are just too many

elephants on the street ... Of course, the ideal situation would be to

return them to the wild, but there just isn�t the land anymore, or the

money.� Resorts could finance small sanctuaries, in a symbiotic relationship

with guests seeking a wild thrill.

 

Not all are bowled over by this sort of Disney Dumbo. Groups like the People

for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) allege that the animals are

treated painfully during training.

 

Mr. Roberts retorted that animals in the games are all domesticated, and

play half an hour a day and feed on forest foliage, instead of up to 16

hours walking Bangkok's bad streets. 'It's really like a holiday for them,'

he said. Once a year, in the Golden Triangle, it's quite a party for a

large, boisterous group of expats in Asia, too.

 

*Ron Gluckman is a free-lance writer. He divides his time between Bangkok and

Phnom Penh.*