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Who would have believed that dropping elephant acts would spell the end of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus after 146 years as “The Greatest Show on Earth”? When the announcement was made this week it momentarily rivaled political ravings on the Internet.
RBB&B claimed the circus could cease operation in May as attendance and revenue plummeted following their removal of elephants from performances. The circus without elephants couldn’t keep going. But what about elephants without circuses (and zoos), can they survive? Elephants are big here in Thailand (I do not apologize for puns). First, a few historical notes: · Elephants are probably Thailand’s national animal. A white elephant on a red background was the flag of Siam for centuries. · National worth and prestige was measured by the size of the herds of elephants royalty collected. An elephant round-up (i.e. hunt) was a major cultural event in Ayutthaya from the 13th to 18th centuries AD. · Chang-phuyak (commonly translated “white elephants”) were auspicious demi-gods equivalent to royalty in status. · Elephants were essential to the deforestation of teak-covered mountains which was a major source of revenue for the modernization of Thailand from approximately 1850-1950. · Elephant attractions were prominent in the development of Thailand as a world tourist destination from 1975-2005. Visits to elephant parks are still essential parts of most tourism packages. With that sketch as background, now consider elephant treatment as an animal concern in the world. When human arrogance about our place in nature began to melt in the 20th century, people started to recognize that animal feelings are authentic and legitimate. Elephants, for example, love their young, mourn their dead, resent mistreatment, and have distinct individual personalities. People living in close proximity to elephants know this. But it has taken a while to expand that line of thought to include the idea that elephants, and by extension all animals, have or ought to have rights. It may be a part of the major paradigm shift of the current era to make the adjustment away from exploitation of animals to co-existence. The movement has barely begun, but in the case of elephants there has been progress. In fact, the progress has come so late that it may be doubtful, as with pandas, that natural co-existence is any longer viable. Two campaigns have been undertaken. The first is to end ivory trading which involves killing elephants for their tusks, which are turned into luxury items for which there is no real need and no excuse except the profit to be made from the marketing of the items. The second campaign is to naturalize captive elephants. Elephants do not actually thrive in captivity, and even domesticated elephants with comparatively large ranges have been brutalized in the process of being domesticated. Domestic elephants are coerced into doing what their human masters want them to do. In the logging industry that included pulling and rolling logs. In circuses it meant being paraded and forced to move on command. The problem with “naturalizing” elephants in Thailand is that most of their natural habitat is gone and free-roaming elephants invade human developments, including especially orchards, hillside plantations, and even lowland fields. There are too many elephants for free range and too little natural barriers to keep the elephants safely segregated from humans. Despite their exalted place in Thai cultural lore, the days of elephants in Thailand are numbered. Meanwhile, elephants linger in limbo (I do not apologize for alliteration, either). It is believed that there are perhaps 2000 wild elephants in Thailand, in national forests along the Burma border. The number is an estimate. It is comparable to the number of domesticated elephants, 95% of which are owned privately. Most domestic elephants are in parks where they are chained or occasionally have limited space to move around under control. They are kept for shows and stunts. A staple type of elephant show here in Chiang Mai has them getting a bath and then moving logs around as they used to do, and for which they need less re-training. This ostensibly shows tourists how elephants were used in the recent past. Then the elephants give tourists a lumbering lap around the campsite or a longer lap through the woods before lunch. Conservation parks are a newer development in which elephants are rescued. They are brought to the Elephant Conservation Center, a government project under royal patronage, in Lampang Province to receive veterinary care to recover from injuries or disease. The newer Elephant Nature Park is billed as a place where elephants are conserved naturally and where tourists interact with them responsibly. Tourists pay a hefty fee to be educated and allowed to become acquainted with elephants and pretend they are helping take care of them. Elephants in these types of parks are expected to do what comes naturally, and that does not include giving people rides, playing football, dancing, standing on their heads or painting pictures. A significant number of elephants, usually adolescents or young adults, are privately owned outside of parks and some are constantly on the move begging for tips and treats sold by their handlers to sympathetic folks (as was the case with the elephant who was brought to our house in the picture above). They are moved where crowds gather, in hot cities, for example. Their life expectancy is relatively short, whereas most elephants would live to the age of 80 or 90, as would healthy human beings. It looks like American bison and maybe timber wolves are making a come-back from near extinction. Elephants are not as endangered as Siberian tigers, but Asian elephants cannot survive if they have to coexist with humans. They cannot compete for overlapping habitat with humans. Perhaps nothing can, except maybe termites and cockroaches. Reducing the degree of enslavement elephants have endured is, in the big picture, a largely futile gesture, although it probably means a lot to the ones released from cages.
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As the USA prepares to inaugurate a new and very different President and as Thailand prepares to crown a new King and elect a new government, I have been pondering what a national leader should be like. Here is my tentative description of national leaders who are worthy of respect and honor.
A WORTHY NATIONAL LEADER IS ONE WHO WORKS TO: 1. Unify the nation to include all portions of the population no matter how small or recent. Rationale: Long-term national integrity is enhanced by rapid integration. KPI (key performance indicator that the goal is being sought by the national leaders): Special attention is paid to rapidly diminish the disadvantages of being a recent immigrant or people at risk. Example: HM King Rama IX of Thailand visited and supported development projects for every ethnic and regional group in the kingdom. Counter-indicator: Particular groups are excluded or identified as undesirable. 2. Value the cultural heritage of the nation and respect the cultural contributions of all ethnic sectors. Rationale: National pride is enhanced by valuing unique components of the national fabric. KPI: Nationally sponsored projects and holidays signify that cultural events and heroes of minority groups are as valued as are those of the ethnic core majority. Example: Black History Month in the USA Counter-indicator: Only founders or the ruling elite are honored. 3. Protect those who are most vulnerable by insuring their security, health, education, essential resources and livelihoods. Rationale: Human survival and human dignity are human rights. A nation is only as sustainable as its promotion of human rights. KPI: progress is being made to expand equal access to legal protection and safety, health care, universal education, jobs with sufficient pay, and people’s control over their own lives. Example: European plans for access to education and health care for all. Counter-indicator: Health care costs for any individual could bankrupt them and their families or force them to forego needed medical care. 4. Enhance the circumstances of future generations. Rationale: Fundamental resources must be available forever. KPI: support is provided for visionary, valid scientific and humanitarian research and action is consistent with those discoveries. Example: Sustainable healthy environment. Counter-indicator: carbon emissions are ignored and/or industries that contribute to environmental destruction are allowed to continue doing so. 5. Promote world peace, human welfare, and international justice. Rationale: The world is essentially one and people prosper when they are free from threat. KPI: mutual regard and shared responsibility for international tribunals and inter-governmental organizations. Example: United Nations Counter-indicator: Actions are taken to withdraw from international forums and accountability. 6. Provide informed, enlightened leadership as a role model for others in national leadership. Rationale: Leaders should lead. KPI: the leaders articulate a consolidated vision for achieving the above objectives. Example: The Prime Minister of Canada Counter-indicator: Policies fragment society and isolate the nation from the community of nations.  New Year is traditionally a time for list-making. My lists are about living cross-culturally. I have lived in Thailand for 33 of the last 51 years. I no longer belong anywhere else. Pramote and I got married in Iowa in 2009 and built our home in a village close to his family in Chiang Mai. That is the context for my reflections this New Year’s Eve.
3 things that are persistently remarked upon:
3 things about my behavior that are hard for Thai acquaintances to accept:
3 things that I still find difficult:
OK, to be fair, what have I heard about how Americans respond to Thai persons in the USA?
I have been out of the USA for a while. Are these sorts of insults disappearing? I have come to terms with most of these aggravations here. I cannot impact how Thai people first perceive me except by remembering to smile benignly and dress appropriately. They cannot diminish what I know and what I think, by underestimating it. At this stage in life it is time to shed regrets about what was not to be … and to dispose of books I have hoarded and clothes I have outgrown. I’m on my way to a party down the lane where they will have ice cubes in the beer and bits of animal innards on the grill. Happy New Year, in this the best of all possible worlds. |
AuthorRev. Dr. Kenneth Dobson posts his weekly reflections on this blog. Archives
March 2024
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