Vietnam: the Elephant Racing Festival draws critics

Brut America

Elephants playing soccer, racing or swimming. These performances are part of a controversial festival in Vietnam. Several NGOs are now speaking out against these practices.

Transcript

00:00In the past, I thought that the elephant was only good at pulling wood and helping people.

00:20But I didn't think that it could do a lot of things.

00:22It could not only pull wood, but also play football, run, and swim.

01:01In the beginning, the elephant was a member of my family.

01:05Any family with an elephant is a great asset to their family.

01:08They respect the elephant a lot.

01:30I can't think of any argument that makes it right, hitting your elephant to make it run for entertainment.

01:43Elephants don't obey, they submit.

02:00In fact, to train an elephant, we use what we call training by annihilation.

02:06How does it work?

02:08Often, trainers use a tool called the bull hook.

02:12It hits the animal repeatedly on sensitive areas for days.

02:17An animal that is both hungry, thirsty, and locked up.

02:20Then, the elephant will do everything, will obey in any order,

02:25so that the injuries it received during the training are not reactivated by new blows on these same sensitive areas.

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