Cambodia is banning elephant rides at Angkor Wat
Seam Reap, Cambodia — If you plan to try the famous elephant rides at Angkor Wat, you should know that this famous attraction in Cambodia is not going to be available in the coming months. (And we are hoping its for good!)
It can be remembered that back in June 2019, the Angkor Archaeological Park management authority in Seam Reap, Cambodia said that it would ban elephant rides in the first months of 2020.
CNN has recently reported that this process has already commenced.
This action comes hot on the heels of the pressure that comes from Apsara, an animal activist group.
On November 15, Khmer Times – a local media outlet in Cambodia – revealed that two of 14 elephants in the said park have already been transferred to the Bos Thom Community forest from the Angkor Wat temple.
Ang, by “early next year,” the rest of the elephants would also be relocated to the same place, told Apsara representative Long Kosal.
Kosal said in a statement that while the elephant is a humongous animal, it is also “gentle.” And, Kosal added that the group does not want to see animals, such as elephants, being used for different tourism activities in the long run.
“We want them to live in their natural surroundings,” Kosal said.
Just last year, a study conducted by the World Wildlife Fund revealed that there had been a 50 percent decline in the Asian elephant population in only three generations.
Two years earlier, an elephant named Sambo made headlines across the globe because it died at Angkor Wat. Reports said the causes of its death would probably be heatstroke and exhaustion from carrying around a lot of tourists visiting the site.
This news comes at a time when quite a few organizations have already signified their intention to veer away from animal-related attractions.
TripAdvisor is among the firms that do the same as it recently announced that it would not sell tickets to attractions that feature dolphins and whales in captivity.
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