H-ELP campaign for more humane training of Elephants

Elephants and Horses have never been two animals that spring to mind as two of a kind but when you look deeper, they have more in common than one could imagine. Firstly, they are both herd animals, both herbivores and new research by world renowned Elephant trainer, Andrew Mclean, has shown the world that there is much more to these beautiful animals.

Elephants have been domesticated in Asia for over six thousand years and are used as a working animal for many. In the wild they are accustomed to days of mud baths, eating vegetation and quiet companionship; but when they are captured as ‘working elephants’ this idyll can end up being markedly different, involving inhumane training techniques to demean the animal so they lose all sense of freedom and free will.

The H-ELP foundation has been working with Elephants and handlers to show a new way of working together. Dr Andrew Mclean, a former Australian horse trainer, hung up his riding boots to study Elephants, discovering that like Horses, Elephants learn in logic based manner. This enabled Mclean to train and teach Elephants in a humane way, using dressage techniques that form the basis of every equestrian discipline. The training methods were created in a step by step programme to give safety to both the Elephants as well as their handlers.

The H-ELP foundation was set up to raise awareness of plights of working elephants, to get involved please visit www.h-elp.org