To anyone who has ever posted a cute picture of themselves riding an elephant at an elephant sanctuary:

You didn’t visit an elephant sanctuary. You visited a place that profits off of hurting elephants. And you don’t love elephants. If you loved elephants, you would know that you should never, ever, ever, ride them.

First of all, to even get such a huge and powerful animal to let you sit on its back, that elephant’s spirit has to be broken so he will not toss you off. You are sitting on top of a broken animal.

You proud so far?

Second, if you’re riding an elephant, it means that elephant was once wild, but has been caught, trapped and imprisoned. As long as people pay to ride elephants, elephants will continue to be snatched from the wild and from their families.  

Shameful.

Third, it is not unusual for a trapped elephant to be disabled and old, so they are simply worked until they collapse, sometimes up to 20 hours a day. And you are contributing to that elephant’s tortuous life.

Say cheese!

Fourth, elephants can carry diseases that humans can catch. Now you’re endangering the elephant AND yourself.

Moron.

Fifth, just because they’re big and strong doesn’t mean their bodies are designed to carry people, saddles or packs. Your cute little Instagram picture could be contributing to that elephant’s misery in the form of spinal problems and skin sores.

Sheesh.

People who post pictures of themselves riding elephants are just as dumb as Walter Palmer, the dentist who illegally killed Cecil the Lion on a safari. Called “the most hated man on Earth,” Palmer got so many death threats for the killing of Cecil that he had to close his dental practice, change his name and move. But guess what? He’s hunting again, this time rare sheep in Mongolia. He tried to keep himself out of the picture posted on social media, but someone leaked it. He has received more death threats.

I truly love elephants. I am obsessed with them. And one day I am going to visit my favorite elephant sanctuary that specializes in rescuing baby elephants who have lost their families due to poaching, natural events or human interaction, like elephants who sometimes fall down man-made well or ditches.

The sanctuary I am going to would never let you ride an elephant, or even touch them except during supervised visits. For an hour or two a day you are allowed to observe from behind ropes as the babies eat, interact with their caretakers, or play in the mud and water. There is even something you can do where you lie on the ground, and if a baby elephant wants to play with you, you get lucky and he will snuggle with you, rub on you or climb on you like you are his personal jungle gym. But you can’t go near him, he has to come to you, and this is all supervised.

That’s gonna be all me.

Until I go, I donate generously and adopt a baby every few months, and watch him get the care he needs until he is old enough to be let out into the wild sanctuary with the older elephants. They are eventually reintegrated into the wild, but years later bring back their own babies to visit their beloved caretakers, the way students visit their old teachers and coaches.

Stay off those elephants.