Elephant Valley
Menu- WELCOME TO THE ELEPHANT VALLEY!
- FROM ASIA OR AFRICA?
- FROM THE LIFE OF ELEPHANTS
- WATER OVER GOLD
- BIG EATERS
- ELEPHANTS ENDANGERED
- HARD LIFE WITH ELEPHANTS
- HARD LIFE WITH PEOPLE
- PARTNERSHIP OF PEOPLE AND ELEPHANTS
- ELEPHANTS IN CEREMONIES
- ELEPHANTS AT WORK
- ELEPHANTS FROM PINNAWALA
- GANESHA
- ELEPHANTS IN HINDUISM
- THE SOVEREIGN WHITE ELEPHANT
- THE DREAM OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT
ELEPHANTS AT WORK
Due to their unusual size, intelligence and willingness to work with people, elephants in Asia have been irreplaceable assistants to people for millennia. They were used everywhere large machinery is used today.
Elephants have always helped humans, mainly with carrying heavy loads. Despite the fact that in many places these days their place has been taken by machines, they are irreplaceable everywhere heavy machinery can’t reach. They allow, for example, selective logging in thick rain forests, where they carry and drag heavy logs.
Elephants have participated as “living tanks” in many wars. In the mountainous areas of South-East Asia they even helped people to fight during the latter half of the 20th century. Only thanks to them was it possible to ensure the supply of troops in inaccessible forests during the Vietnam War.
With the advent of modern times some elephants have lost their traditional work. New applications have been found thanks to tourists for whom getting to know a town or a national park environment from the back of an elephant is a welcome and unique experience. They are also used by protected area rangers for transport in the field.