Animal handlers at a zoo in Indonesia have been caught abusing elephants and stabbing them with sharp objects to get them to perform for tourists, a wildlife charity claims.
Photographs show elephants having their tails pulled, and handlers punching them in the trunk while allegedly concealing sharp tools in their fists, at the Taman Safari zoo in Bogor on West Java, Indonesia.
While the shocking abuse takes place on the ground, an excited crowd of tourists are seen cheering on the elephant show from a balcony above, it is claimed.
Abuse: A handler is seen pulling the tail of one of the elephants at Taman Safari zoo in Indonesia during a performance
Punch: According to the photographer, the handler seen punching an elephant in the trunk is also concealing a sharp object in his hand which he is using to stab the animal
The alleged abuse has been documented by wildlife charity Born Free, and photojournalist Aaron Gekoski, who claims the injuries to the elephants’ trunks seen in his images were caused by handlers stabbing them to control them.
The alleged abuse appears to be taking place despite the zoo being a member of the World Associations of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), which requires its members to treat all animals in their captivity with the utmost care.
Mr Gekoski said: ‘Every day the elephants perform in shows which involve elaborate reconstructions of human and elephant conflict caused by the palm oil industry.
‘After a show when we were there, the elephants became boisterous. A handler was seen to punch one on its trunks and pull its tail in order to control it.
‘On closer inspection, it appeared the handler was concealing a sharp object in his hand, which caused multiple puncture wounds on the elephant’s trunk.
An excited crowd of tourists are seen cheering on the elephant show from a balcony above at the Indonesian animal park
Injuries: These bleeding wounds seen on the elephant’s trunk was allegedly caused by a handler
Wounds: A still bleeding injury is seen left, while a wound on the right has healed
Easy to miss: Other photographs from the elephant show see young tourists feeding and petting the animals
The shocking abuse was claimed to have happened at the Taman Safari in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia – despite the zoo being a member of the World Associations of Zoos and Aquariums), which claims to require its members to treat all animals with the utmost care
‘After checking out the other elephants, they also had similar wounds. Security saw us documenting what was happening and asked us to put our cameras away.
‘Elephants are much loved, intelligent and sentient beings that should not be ridden, touched or used in shows, and they most definitely should not be controlled using such violent means.
On the Taman Safari Indonesia (TSI) website, the zoo claims to be a ‘pioneer leader in conservation and recreational parks’.
Doug Cress, chief executive officer at WAZA, said: ‘The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums believes that the welfare of the animals in our care is of great importance, and we hold our member zoos and aquariums to the highest standards in this regard.
‘The WAZA Code of Ethics expressly prohibits activities that cause animals pain or compel them to act in an unnatural manner, and WAZA does not support shows that demean any animal.
‘WAZA takes matters of animal welfare seriously and will investigate this situation fully.’
Dr Chris Draper, Head of Animal Welfare and Captivity at Born Free, said the charity had been concerned about the activities at Taman Safari for some time.
Dr Draper said they had received numerous complaints from tourists and members of the public visiting the zoo.
‘The direct abuse of elephants reported is completely unacceptable and must be investigated by the relevant authorities.
‘It is shocking that this zoo is listed as a member of WAZA, which claims to represent ‘leading’, ‘high standard’ zoos across the world, and apparently requires its members to ‘ensure that they ‘ensure that all animals in their care are treated with the utmost care and their welfare should be paramount all times’.
‘These assurances begin to sound meaningless in light of the reported abuse and exploitation of elephants in shows and rides at one of their members zoo.’
The allegedly savage handling of the elephants is now being exposed as part of Born Free’s work to encourage people to report any captive animal abuse or suffering they witness locally or while travelling abroad
Taking visitors for a ride: Taman Safari Indonesia claims to be a ‘pioneer leader in conservation and recreational parks’
Taman Safari Indonesia said in a response to MailOnline that the ‘allegations that keepers abuse the elephants and stab them with sharp objects to get them to perform for tourists is baseless and false. Taman Safari Indonesia does not condone practices that harm or hurt animals as part of our presentations and interactions.
‘The elephants at TSI have the opportunity to interact and socialise with one another and when this happens there will be times when there are disagreements or rough interactions between individual elephants. This sometimes results in superficial wounds that are cleaned and treated by our team of dedicated keepers and vets. The elephants can also move around their area to explore, investigate, scratch themselves and interact with their keepers.
‘The photos of the keeper interacting with the elephant are such an example. You can clearly see that the keeper is rubbing the elephant’s trunk and he then leans forward against the elephant, as the keepers sometimes do, to guide the elephant to another position. Because the elephants are managed free contact, the keepers use either verbal cues or direct handling to guide or position them.’
‘The allegation that there are cuts or wounds on the elephants’ trunks inflicted by keepers is baseless, and this would instead create veterinary or behavioural problems that are counter to what we hope to achieve in managing the animals in our parks.’
