Langkawi Elephant Adventure today dismissed the recent allegation that it had abused a male elephant in its possession.

The company's director, Jason Loh, today said the allegation made by non-governmental organisations - Friends of Orang Utan (Foto) and Nature Alert - that the mammal named Lasah was being chained and abused for long hours was an exaggerated slander.

He said neither Foto director Upreshpal Singh nor Nature Alert chief executive officer Sean Whyte, who made the allegation, had attempted to seek clarification from them on Lasah's actual condition.

"Lasah is not always chained as depicted and this allegation has been taken out of context, a situation which could have been avoided had we been engaged first," Loh said in a statement.

Foto and Nature Alert had, in an article carried by a news portal, claimed that the elephant had endured a life of exploitation and abuse after being made one of Langkawi's tourist attractions for over a decade.

Loh said no form of restraint was used on the 36-year-old Lasah at its daytime holding area, where the animal was free to move between the platform and feeding stations without any provocation.

He said the elephant's condition had been consistently monitored and cared by at least five mahouts, zoologists and veterinarians and they would suspend all its activities should his mood or behaviour change.

"Furthermore, Lasah's trails are under full cover of a secondary rainforest and, with regular showers in the hottest times of the day, it (Lasah) is kept cool," he said.

He added that the tour ride on Lasah was only limited to three hours a day.

- Bernama