Fodor's Joins Growing List of Travel Brands That Oppose Elephant Rides

Fodor's Travel has stopped recommending elephant rides and has updated its content to provide information about the cruelty inherent in captive-elephant attractions.

The move comes after being contacted by PETA and nearly 97,000 concerned members of the public, according to a PETA statement issued today.

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"Fodor's Travel has added its name to a long list of travel-industry players that have taken a stand against exploiting elephants for entertainment," PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement. "PETA urges travelers to do their part to shut down wildlife tourism by never riding or bathing an elephant, visiting pseudo-sanctuaries, or posing for photos with captive wild animals."

As had been reported on extensively by World Animal Protection and other organizations, elephants that are forced to give rides at tourist attractions are often forcibly separated from their mothers as infants, bound with ropes or chains, and gouged with nails or other sharp objects as part of a crushing process known as “phajaan.”

Those elephants who survive the barbaric process spend the rest of their lives lugging tourists around or performing tricks under the threat of being beaten with bullhooks, which are weapons resembling a fireplace poker with a metal hook on one end.

Fodor's Travel joins a long list of travel and guidebook companies—including Intrepid Travel, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, and TripAdvisor—in opposing elephant rides.

There has been a growing industry movement in recent years to not only end elephant rides but to ensure that elephant camps are brought to an end or transitioned to more humane operations.