Elephant Collapses and Dies of Exhaustion After Being Overworked

Elephant rides are an incredibly popular activity for tourists visiting places like India and Thailand, but the practice is absolutely terrible for the elephants. “Breaking the spirit” of the gentle giants with cruel tactics is commonplace in the industry. Another heartbreaking story of an overworked elephant has recently come out of Sri Lanka.

An 18-year-old elephant named Kanakota collapsed and died due to exhaustion after carrying around tourists that same day. The day before, Kanakota also participated in a parade where the elephants are forced to walk along busy streets wearing extremely elaborate and heavy adornments that strain them. Like many captive elephants, he was also hit with a bullhook.

There is no shortage of stories about elephants in captivity facing abuse. Examples include Sook Jai, an elephant that was saved from decades of harsh work and cruelty and brought to a sanctuary, or two elephants that died while being forced to work for the R.W. Commerford & Sons Zoo traveling zoo.

There has been some progress made in the fight to save elephants from cruelty. Just recently, California signed into law The Circus Cruelty Prevention Act which bans exotic animals from circuses. Help by signing a petition such as this one to save elephants from the R.W. Commerford & Sons Zoo, or this one to help prevent elephants in India from being struck by trains.

To learn more about elephant captivity and about what you can do, check out the following articles:

• 5 Reasons Why Holding an Elephant in Captivity Goes Against Everything Natural
• 3 Things Captive Elephants Never Experience
• What the Afflictions of Circus and Zoo Elephants Have Taught Us About Captivity
• Seven Simple Things You Can Do to Help Captive Elephants – Right Now!

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