New regulations could end all elephant rides

I know there are some very strong opinions when it comes to elephant management on this site. But since I want to be an elephant keeper when I graduate I need to say: I'm ecstatic about this new rule, because by the time I do graduate the rules will be in place. I'm pro protected contact by the way. Even though it'd be nice to die doing something I love, I don't want that to happen ;).
 
Riding elephants has 4000 years of history. I see PETA thinks is wiser than that. :/
 
Elephant rides, weren't safe 4,000 years ago. And are not safe today. Could you imagine the press a zoo would get if a person was injured or killed while riding one of their elephants?
 
No press is bad press? Of course it would be a tragedy, but sometimes it is worth taking that risk. Free vs. Protected Contact is one of the few issues I cannot come to a conclusion about.
 
The header to this thread is NOT what the article says. It will not end ALL elephant rides. It only applies to AZA facilities. It is an AZA regulation that (if followed through) takes effect in 2014.

It will have no effect on circuses or other (non-AZA) elephant facilities.
 
I myself, wanting to be an elephant keeper, don't want my mother to have to receive a call saying her son has died in an accident. Protected contact ensures safety. And I applaud this rule. I promise you I'm not a PETA advocate! But it is simply what I see as the best method. The only AZA facility still giving elephant rides is Six Flags Valejo and Santa ana(quit after have trunk will travel elephant training tape was released). They shouldn't even be AZA accredited.... The rule basically is no free contact for any AZA zoos. Which rules out the elephant rides at six flags. :D
 
gerenuk said:
The rule doesn't ban free contact of elephants in AZA zoos
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The new rule, even with all of its detailed exceptions, seems to at the very least severely limit free contact in AZA zoos. Several ZooChatters, myself included, have applauded this step and it is simply a matter of time before the AZA zoos that allow free contact with all of their elephants are no longer allowed to do so.
 
Dallaspachyderm said:
Elephant rides, weren't safe 4,000 years ago. And are not safe today.
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I see here stupid refusal of accepting the reality. Acceptance of risk applies also to skiing, outdoor hiking, sailing and most things in life which are worth doing.

Nobody is forced to take elephant rides and nobody is forced to work with elephants. Some low level of risk is a price to pay for interacting with one of most wonderful animals.

Thats why people go for elephant ride or want to become elephant keepers - although they could perfectly safely work with guinea pigs, golden hamsters and Greek tortoises.
 
I'm choosing to work with elephants because I have had a passion for elephants since I was very small. It was not me choosing randomly out of the animal kingdom. It's a fact, protected contact is safer than free.
 
Dallaspachyderm said:
I'm choosing to work with elephants because I have had a passion for elephants since I was very small. It was not me choosing randomly out of the animal kingdom. It's a fact, protected contact is safer than free.
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Nothing is 100% safe,even crossing the road at a crossing just ask anybody that has been knocked over by a car jumping a red light!!!So taking that in to account elephant keepers can still get injured or killed even in protected contact,just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it will not in the future!
 
Santa Ana Zoo, which for half of the year had Asian elephant rides via a private company, has ended the rides forever as they have an accreditation process in the near future. That leaves Six Flags in California as the last AZA-accredited establishment in the United States offering elephant rides. An interesting article:

Santa Ana Zoo ends 25-year-old elephant ride attraction - latimes.com
 
zoogiraffe said:
Nothing is 100% safe,even crossing the road at a crossing just ask anybody that has been knocked over by a car jumping a red light!!!
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People are well aware of the danger of roads and cars. When adult zoo-goers and their children are invited to ride an elephant I think pretty much all of them think it is 100% safe - no more dangerous than visiting the haunted house at an amusement park. One may argue that this is ignorance on their part but I don't think most people without a greater interest in zoos know how many accidents or close calls professionally trained elephants have been involved in, even in AZA and EAZA zoos. Elephant keepers fall into a different category because they are well aware of the risk and 'fortunately' most accidents have only involved them. ('fortunately' because even though an elephant keeper accident is terrible, it is even more problematic if it involves the general public.)

I'd bet PETA and similar groups would love for a zoo elephant ride to go terribly wrong. It would become another argument that they would use (misuse) in their fight against zoos.

It seems like the only place where elephant rides are still widespread are in Asian zoos and their policy (whatever one may think about it) is unlikely to change anytime soon.
 
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How recently was it that major zoos (Bronx, St Louis, San Diego, Columbus, Omaha, Denver, etc.) had elephant rides? From the literature I've read they seem to have been pretty prominent up until the late 80s/early 90s. Does anyone know when these rides discontinued?
 
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