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Elephants on city streets are a familiar sight in Bangkok.
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An elephant jam. It's not an uncommon sight on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, where Asian elephants are known to walk the streets, sometimes snarling traffic with their lumbering bulk. Drivers may curse and horns honk, but the elephant will not be hurried.
This week, NATURE takes a close look at THE URBAN ELEPHANT, traveling
from Bangkok's crowded streets to the quiet
forested hills of Tennessee to examine the close and often complicated
relationships people have forged with these giant creatures. It tells
the bittersweet stories of a few of the thousands of Asian elephants
that live out their lives in captivity; in circuses, zoos, farms, and
isolated forest logging camps.
Researchers believe that less than 40,000 endangered Asian elephants still survive in the wild, down from 1.5 million to 2 million in 1970. But there are thousands more Asian elephants living in captivity, since the animal has long been viewed as a prized captive. It is, for instance,a valued beast of burden in India and across Southeast Asia. For thousands of years, elephants have pulled plows, carried cargo, hauled lumber from forests, and ferried passengers across shallow rivers. Guided by expert elephant riders called "mahouts," many Asians consider elephants to be the smart, rugged alternative to modern machines.
But not all Asian elephants still live in their homelands. As early
as 1796, resourceful traders began shipping the animals to Europe and
North America, where they became celebrated curiosities. By the 19th
century, Asian elephants were a staple of zoos and traveling circuses.
Again, the animals' intelligence and staying power proved prized; circus
trainers, for instance, could train a young elephant to perform amazingly
agile moves, knowing it might be able to occupy the spotlight for much
of its 60-year life span. Some of the circus elephants featured on NATURE's
THE URBAN ELEPHANT, for instance, have been performing since the late
1940s.
But some former circus trainers believe performing elephants deserve
a different life. As THE URBAN ELEPHANT shows, they
have set up sanctuaries -- such as The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
-- where the one-time big-top stars can retire and live quietly alongside
others of their kind.
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Screensaver
Bring the Urban Elephants home!
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Prized Captives
Asian elephants struggle to survive.
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City Life
The lives of elephants in Bangkok.
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A Safe Haven
A sanctuary for once-captive elephants.
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Resources
More on the plight of these gentle giants.
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