Save Lasah! Tell TripAdvisor to stop being complicit in elephant abuse!

In a situation that can only be described as beyond heartbreaking, an Asian elephant named Lasah is enslaved by humans, exploited and abused all day every day. Langkawi Elephant Adventures (LEA) in Kedah, Malaysia own Lasah, and there are several TripAdvisor pages promoting 'elephant experiences' with Lasah through a business called Oriental Village.

LEA does not meet Lasah's basic needs, some of which are:

To live with other elephants - he lives alone
To sleep lying down - he's chained to the floor
To cover himself in mud to protect himself from sunburn - he's kept clean for the tourists who don't understand why elephants need to use mud to protect themselves
To regulate his body temperature in water - water isn't available for bathing
To roam free - chained up when not in use

Positive reviews of rides on Lasah published by TripAdvisor legitimise this attraction and ensure a continuing market both for the tourism and the poaching that supplies elephants to tourist attractions like LEA.

TripAdvisor has been asked to remove the pages promoting the attractions featuring Lasah, but they have not listened. Please sign my petition demanding that TripAdvisor remove these pages:

• Oriental Village Langkawi
• Animal Adventures
• "Elephant Ride" at Animal Adventures
• Elephant Cafe

The dirty secret of elephant tourism and trekking is that young elephants, usually baby girls, are first poached from their mother and herd and 'broken'. Breaking is done by chaining the baby elephant's body into a large structure so the humans can torture the elephant with instruments and pain. When the elephant is broken it can be taught what the human wants it to do to earn money for the human. Training involves more pain and torture.

The average weight that a trekking elephant carries each day all day is around half a tonne allowing for 150 kilo chair plus 4 guests. You will see permanent indentations on elephant backs where these chairs have been. Elephants live as long as humans and are often worked to death.

There is a local sanctuary called Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary that will be able to have Lasah and let him enjoy a retirement if Lasah cannot be 'wild released' after rehabilitation.


Some background about how Lasah is being helped and how you can help:

There is mounting pressure on the local environment ministry pressure headed by Friends of the Orangutans (FOTO) Malaysia http://www.fotomalaysia.org/?p=1870

In January 2017, FOTO organised a protest in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and in February, they personally handed two petitions, including a Care2 petition with over 400,000 signatures, to the head of the Peninsular Malaysia Wildlife Department and the Head of the Corporate Communications Unit at the Environment Ministry of Malaysia. Petitions were submitted to the Prime Minister's Department in 2016. In March 2017, FOTO organised a protest in London, UK.


SPEAK UP FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, PROVERBS 30:8

Please sign and share this petition. Thank you.