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Kuala Gandah — elephant shelter or jumbo torment
Free Malaysia Today
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3 months ago
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#kualagandah
#elephantshelter
While the sanctuary has been promoted as a safe haven for the pachyderms, some visitors have painted a very troubling picture of activities within.
Story by Greta Bagdonaite, an undergraduate at City, St George’s, University of London, and an intern at FMT.
Read More:
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/07/11/kuala-gandah-elephant-shelter-or-jumbo-torment
Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.
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00:00
Tucked in the heart of Malaysia's Krau Wildlife Reserve lies the Koala Gander Elephant Sanctuary,
00:05
a place celebrated for protecting the endangered Asian elephant.
00:09
But beneath its noble mission, troubling questions have emerged.
00:13
Is this truly a safe haven for these majestic creatures, or something far less humane?
00:19
Established in 1989 by Malaysia's Wildlife Department, Koala Gander has relocated over
00:24
700 wild elephants, saving them from extinction and protecting local agriculture.
00:29
But recent online reviews paint a grim picture, calling it a torture spectacle and an exploitative
00:35
nightmare, sparking serious concerns about the welfare of these gentle giants.
00:40
Complaints claim bullhooks and chains are used to control the elephants' movements,
00:44
with visitors witnessing swaying and head bobbing, signs commonly associated with deep distress.
00:50
The sanctuary promotes river bathing with elephants as fun activities for tourists,
00:54
but animal welfare groups warn they are stressful, risky and potentially deadly.
00:59
Rajesh Nagarajan, President of Environmental Group PECA, called Koala Gander a site of deeply troubling
01:05
exploitation that betrays the sanctuary's mission of care.
01:09
Elephants are routinely chained on concrete slabs, deprived of free movement and forced to perform for
01:15
visitors under the threat of physical punishment. These practices are in direct contradiction to the
01:21
sanctuary's stated mission of rescue and rehabilitation. This is not conservation,
01:26
it is cruelty dressed up as tourism. Demands are growing for reform, end public performances,
01:32
ban bullhooks and chains and shift to an observation only model. For the Koala Gander Elephant Sanctuary,
01:38
the time for ethical, evidence-based conservation is now. Greta Bogdanaita, FMT.
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