We are told that these guys
are simply trying to earn a living and that we should not
get so upset with them.
But this problem is not unique to South
Africa.
In
Bangkok, for example, it is not unusual to find elephants
with their handlers – known as mahouts –
begging in the streets. |
|
These guys, desperate to earn a little extra
cash have taken to walking the animals in the capital and
selling bananas and sugar cane for people to feed the elephants.
At times as many as 100 elephants and their handlers are
estimated to be regularly visiting Bangkok and are even
seen begging in the city's red light districts.
This practice of street begging
cuts an elephant's life expectancy by at least half, according
to the Elephant Nature Foundation, a non-profit organisation
which campaigns for elephant rights.
Activists warn that car fumes and narrow
streets often leave the elephants with eye calluses and
tuberculosis and make them vulnerable to leg injuries.
The practice is illegal in Thailand, but
the laws have seldom been implemented.
Tourists in Bangkok are now being warned
not to buy food for street elephants or risk a $310 fine
in the latest clampdown on begging by owners of the animals.
If caught, the mahouts face a $300 fine
and six months in jail.
