Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is outraged over disturbing visuals shown on Astro Awani’s video over the alleged mistreatment and abuse of elephants taking place at a resort in Malacca.
The sound of the beating inflicted on the elephant was highly audible such that it shocked SAM into disbelief. Such an appalling scene is reminiscent of the dark ages where captive wildlife were cruelly treated in circuses and zoos. That this merciless beating should take place in this modern time and age is highly unacceptable.
This is not the first time that incidents of this sort have taken place. In 2010 an alleged abuse of a tiger during a show was highlighted by a local newspaper reader in the ‘Letters’ section. It appeared that the tiger had been drugged as it was too tired to even hold up its head.
Then again in 2011, eight orang-utans were discovered at an undisclosed location hunched inside cages with little hair left, malnourished and suffering from severe depression. The orang-utans were never confiscated despite urgings for their removal to Sepilok Orangutan sanctuary in Sabah for treatment.
In 2005 the discovery of illegal orang-utans in the resort’s possession led to their confiscation but no one was ever prosecuted. As always, it is not unusual for the resort’s management to deny any wrongdoing or justify their action.
In the elephant abuse case immediate action should be taken against the abuser because the investigation should be based on witness statements and photographic evidence. No one is above the law and action must be taken to the full extent of the law on the resort owner.
The resort must stop misleading the public that they are into elephant conservation because there is no compelling evidence to date that they are into promoting attitude changes, education or interest in conservation in their visitors, despite claims to the contrary.
No captive animal should ever be beaten to establish dominance or fear. It is both physical and psychological abuse. All those who support this cruel activity contribute to unnecessary suffering of animals that have already suffered enormously from the brutal training techniques they endure which no sane person can call humane.
Elephants tethered in chains around their legs for 14 hours, being beaten and never being able to walk more than a few metres in any direction will have an impact on their health and mental attitude.
It is time to question why the authorities have ever allowed the suffering of these animals in the name of entertainment to continue for so long? Why is this particular resort still given a permit to operate?
SAM urges that action be taken by the wildlife authorities. Action must be rapid and comprehensive as soon as the issue came to light. The action should follow with an internal investigation in line with the zoo’s policies and legal welfare requirements.
SAM also urges the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and the Wildlife department to:
- Ban all elephant performances and ban the use of bullhooks on all captive elephants;
- Allocate more space and land for each and every individual elephant kept by the resort with provisions for environmental enrichment; and
- Ban future application for permits for theme parks and resorts as they are only into exploiting animals for gain without any consideration or trained staff to care for the welfare of captive wildlife.
SM MOHAMED IDRIS is the president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia.
