Bali Elephant Encounter

We'd like to feed and interact with the elephants, but not ride one. Having researched the possibilities in Bali, I find two possibilities there: Bali Safari and Marine Park and Taro Elephant Safari Park (formerly Jalan Elephant Safari Park?).

We'll also be in Semarang, any suggestion for elephant encounters there?

Do you have any experience with these and would you recommend one over the other? Is there yet another venue featuring elephants I should be looking into?

Thank you for your help.

In 2007 our travel agent took us on a shore excursion to Elephant Safari Park in Bali. We loved it. Got to ride on an elephant, watched them bathing in a large pool, and lunch was delicious. We did not feed elephants, but riding one was certainly up front and personal along with the young man who let her eat along the way.

Barbara

In 2007 our travel agent took us on a shore excursion to Elephant Safari Park in Bali. We loved it. Got to ride on an elephant, watched them bathing in a large pool, and lunch was delicious. We did not feed elephants, but riding one was certainly up front and personal along with the young man who let her eat along the way.

Barbara

Thanks for your recommendation, Barbara. :D

We rank our day at Tao Elephant Safari Park as one of the best in our lives. We took a ship's excursion there. The ride there was wonderful and the park was even better. I never had any idea how lovable elephants are! We fed them, rode them, watched them. It was such fun. And we got some great pictures taken by workers there.

Elephants are wildlife, not entertainers. Please do your research before giving money to these places that "train" (more like torture) these beautiful creatures. Here is one website for more information:

https://www.worldanimalprotection.ca/news/elephants-are-wildlife-not-entertainers

Please do not support places that allow you to ride the elephants. Elephants' backs are not meant to carry weight and the weight of carriers etc can be painful and can damage their spine.

Thank you to the OP for stating that they were not wanting a facility in which to ride elephants. I will admit to riding an elephant up to a fort while traveling in India, several years ago, before I understood what the elephants go through. I wish I could undo it now.

7 Reasons to Never Ride an Elephant

1. Wild elephants will not let humans ride them: all wild animals need to be trained before they will perform for humans, but elephant training is particularly brutal. The ancient tradition of taming an elephant is called the Phajaan. It translates as "the breaking of the spirit".

2. They have to be trained as babies: Calves are so young when they enter the Phajaan they're still suckling from their mothers. Mothers and calves are forcibly separated. They will cry out for each other for weeks, but they will never be reunited.

3. There is a reason it is nicknamed "The Crush": A key part of the Phajaan is a tiny pen. Calves are tied in tightly, fixed in a standing position. They are unable to walk, sit, lie down or move in any way. They will remain here for up to a week, deprived of food and sleep.

4. Torture will continue until the spirit breaks: The pen alone is not enough to break an elephant's wild spirit. They will be beaten, burned and stabbed. Any object can be turned into a weapon, but bullhooks and a bamboo stick with a nail through the end are popular choices, targeting the most sensitive areas.

5. Not all baby's spirits can be broken: Half of the calves who go into the Phajaan do not survive it.

6. Bullhooks are key to controlling elephants: Discrete jabs in sensitive areas are a sharp reminder of the Phajaan. Just having one in sight of an elephant is an intimidating threat.

7. Elephant backs aren't strong enough to carry humans: Horses have rounded vertebrae joints, whereas elephants have gaps along their spine which makes carrying weight very painful. Some argue elephant's necks are strong enough to support one person, but the weight of a bench and multiple tourists on their back is crippling.

Please don't support venues where elephant riding occurs.

I am so glad that I found this thread. After reading some of the information on here I did my own research & have now decided to cancel the 'Elephant Riding' excursion that I had booked. And I have posted this info on our Roll Call.

Sandy

I am so glad that I found this thread. After reading some of the information on here I did my own research & have now decided to cancel the 'Elephant Riding' excursion that I had booked. And I have posted this info on our Roll Call.

Sandy

:halo::halo::halo::halo::halo:Cheers to you Sandy!