Come 2020 and there will be no more elephant rides at Cambodia’s Angkor Wat
In a welcome move, Cambodia is on its way to elephant rides at the Angkor Wat, its most famous attraction. An announcement regarding the ban has been made by the Angkor Elephant Group Committee, which has also been urged to let go of the 14 elephants that are currently used to give rides at the temple complex.
The move has come in the wake of an elephant’s death in 2016, as it collapsed after giving tourists a ride in soaring temperatures. One of the vets attributed “high temperatures, heat exhaustion and lack of wind that would have helped to cool her” as the cause of death. The horrific incident led to outrage around the world, as pleas were made to stop animal abuse.
The Angkor Elephant Group Committee Director Oan Kiry issued a statement on the move, "In early 2020, our association plans to end the use of elephants to transport tourists… They can still watch the elephants and take photos of them in our conservation and breeding center. We want the elephants to live in as natural a manner as possible.”
