Spread the message about the saddest secret of the tourism industry. Raise awareness. Stop phajaan.
#STOPPHAJAAN IS NON-VIOLENT, EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN – for the love of the Elephants.
What is phajaan?
Due to their size and intelligence Elephants are difficult to handle.
To overcome this, people use Phajaan, which is often translated to “breaking the Elephant`s spirit” or “separating body and soul”.
It sounds brutal and it is brutal.
It is committed on (8-14 months) baby Elephants, starting with separating the baby from its mother by force and lock in a very small cage or tie up completely preventing any movement, including sitting and laying.
The real horror starts from here – involving food, drink and sleep deprivation, continuous beating, stabbing with sharp objects (nails, bull hooks) – until poor calf completely obeys to its mahout – usually it takes weeks.
“After the process the mother often cannot recognise its calf – usually they are together for several years.”
Why?
To allow riding, do tricks and stunts such as painting.
Mostly for the tourism industry, but the process also applied on ceremonial and working Elephants.
All working Elephants go through on it.
The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of phajaan through distribution educational, non-violent materials on social media. As a result, we can save Elephants from suffering and torture.
Giant Slaves - Elephants in the tourism industry
This expository documentary is shedding some light on the southeast Asian elephant industry.
What is this dark secret? Why is it harmful for the elephants? What is behind the latest trend “no riding”? What are the ethical elephant parks, and are they really in favor with their beloved animals? This film answers these questions.
If you are keen to help, you can learn more: https://giantslaves.com/
People want to play with, watch or ride Elephants because they adore these beautiful creatures.
Would you participate in such activities after knowing this? Exactly.
Get involved
You can do an awful lot – without actually doing an awful lot.
1, Participate in the #stopphajaan campaign
We created pictures, frames and post templates – accessible here – for you to make it easier. Share them on your social media channels – more people know, the bigger the impact. If you are representing an organisation, you can add your logo – all materials are unbranded. Involve your team, let`s support this together.“phajaan is kept in secret for an obvious reason. Its brutality.
As a result, people tend to think that Elephants are trained like horses or dogs – have no clue of what is going on – we need to tell the truth to everyone. ”
2, Visit Ethical Elephant parks
If you are on holiday visit Ethical Elephant parks only. Find places where they do not offer rides or stunts and the Elephants are not chained or caged. By visiting Ethical Elephant parks, you contribute a lot. The Elephants there are often rescued, they treat them well and provide them great living space. Instead torture and forced stunts you can have a REAL ELEPHANT EXPERIENCE.If you have been exposed to this earlier, you can act now and write a review about it.
If you did not know there is nothing to be ashamed of.
3, Write reviews
Be careful scammers ahead, some parks advertise themselves as Ethical but they are not. Do your research. Always write a review – good and bad – this helps others to make good decisions. Also motivate unethical parks to improve. You can also tell politely to the ticket sellers and tour guides that you against this.As Ethical parks are taking the lead, the unethical competition need to keep up and change.
4, Have your say
You can always write letters to your travel agency or the relevant authorities and raise your concerns. Contact your local embassy or consulate and ask for further direction.Help these beautiful countries to keep up and influence the governments to make good decisions – after COVID it is more important than ever.
“I live far away. Why is it my concern? Because tourists make the biggest impact.”
Impact
What difference can I make?
Increasing awareness can result better Elephant treatments in several countries – enforced by the law.
It can lead to ban of cages, chains, stunts, riding and most importantly phajaan or similar cruel methods – not only on Elephants.
It all starts with education – this is what this campaign is about.
Despite only 40k Indian Elephant left, in some countires it is still allowed to use them as machinery in the logging industry.
In general, the law loosely protects them against anything – phajaan is legal.
Campaigns like this can:
- educate people about the importance of animal welfare
- motivate unethical parks to be more Ethical – allowing mahouts to stand out
- result better collaboration between the different stakeholders
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Phajaan is a process in which elephant babies are brutally tortured to be obedient and to perform all kinds of tricks. The process includes stabbing, chaining, sleep deprivation, and other torture for weeks. For gigantic animals like elephants, performing stunts, tricks aren’t natural at all. The cruel process aims to scatter their souls. 
But you can stop this. Your choice matters. While you are on vacation, just remember, NO elephant riding; NO tricks or stunts; NO chains. Your small actions could have a huge impact on them.
Share the post with your loved ones or tag your friends who are travelling recently!
#stopphajaan #StopElephantAbuse
Have you ever wondered why Elephants won’t just walk away when they are forced to perform tricks? They are so huge and thus it’s impossible to stop them from running away, but why?
These Elephants had lost their souls, as they have gone through the process called phajaan – when they were babies. It’s an extremely brutal process that includes stabbing, chaining, sleep deprivation, and other torture for weeks. By then, what is left, is an empty body without the desire to run away anymore. 
When being on vacation in countries where elephants play a crucial role in tourism, we need to make the right choice. That is: NO elephant riding; NO tricks or stunts; and NO chains! Your choice matters, much more than you think.
Share this post with your loved ones or tag your friends who are travelling recently!
#stopphajaan #StopElephantAbuse
When the curtains fall, Elephants shed tears that no one knows. 
All Elephants that perform tricks, went through the brutal process that deprived their souls. The cruel training called phajaan includes stabbing, chaining, sleep deprivation, and other torture for weeks. What’s worse, the process happens when the elephants are just babies. .
The only way we can stop this, is through our choices. We must say no to Elephant riding, stunts, tricks and chains.
Share this post with your loved ones or tag your friends who are travelling recently!
#stopphajaan #StopElephantAbuse
Contact
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Credits:
Photo by paweldotio on Unsplash
Photo by Jessica Knowlden on Unsplash
Photo by Alix Greenman on Unsplash
Photo by Rock Vincent Guitard on Unsplash
Photo by Dušan veverkolog on Unsplash
Photo by Josh Muller on Unsplash
Photo by Iswanto Arif on Unsplash