Good News for Animals: KE Adventure Travel Confirms Elephant Ride Ban

For Immediate Release:

27 March 2019

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6433; [email protected]

GOOD NEWS FOR ANIMALS: KE ADVENTURE TRAVEL CONFIRMS ELEPHANT RIDE BAN

Cumbria-Based Travel Agent Joins Dozens of Others in Prohibiting Cruel and Dangerous Rides

Cumbria – After corresponding with PETA US, travel company KE Adventure Travel has confirmed it no longer sells tours involving elephant rides and has removed all promotions of these activities from its website.

“There’s only one way to force elephants to perform tricks and give rides, and that’s through beatings and the constant threat of violence,” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “KE Adventure Travel’s kind decision to stop offering elephant treks will ensure that well-meaning tourists don’t unwittingly support cruelty to animals.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – notes that elephants used for rides are often forcibly separated from their mothers as babies, immobilised with tightly bound ropes, and gouged with bullhooks or nail-studded sticks during “training”. Some don’t survive the gruelling process, and those who do spend the rest of their lives lugging tourists around or performing tricks under the threat of physical punishment.

A recent PETA India investigation of Amber Fort in Jaipur, India, found that elephants were forced to give rides despite suffering from ailments such as foot problems, visual impairment, and psychological distress (as evidenced by repetitive swaying and head-bobbing) – and several tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis, which is transmissible to humans. In 2017, a group of American tourists at Amber Fort reported seeing ride operators beating an elephant continuously for 10 minutes.

KE Adventure Travel joins Thomas Cook as well as Responsible Travel, ElderTreks, Intrepid Travel, G Adventures, and travel-guide publisher DK in pledging not to promote cruel elephant rides.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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