Elephants Disguised As Pandas For Attention In Thailand

The recent birth of a baby panda in Thailand has been causing concern for local residents - elephants, according to the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail reports that the Thai public has been lavishing attention on pandas since the birth last month, pushing elephant keepers to extraordinary lengths to draw the focus back to elephants.

Keepers at the Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal painted their charges with watercolors, according to the Daily Mail, and paraded them before schoolchildren in a bid to remind them not to neglect the nation's elephants.

The Bangkok Post reports that the staff is gently mocking the current panda-mania while highlighting their concerns for national elephant causes.

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Comments

[Lorianne]

08:36 PM on 06/28/2009

People in Iran should dress up as MJ for the same reason.

[katocat]

03:16 PM on 06/27/2009

Kinda looks like he's enjoying the attention.

[StephenJK]

08:58 AM on 06/28/2009

They are the smartest and most loving creatures on earth. Elephants RULE!

[LMPE]

03:11 PM on 06/27/2009

Republicans don't like getting associated with pandas.

[judiNJ]

08:36 PM on 06/28/2009

I was going to say maybe they should do this in DC.

[Sepulchre]

03:10 PM on 06/27/2009

. Well someone needs to draw attention to the plight of the Elephants in Thailand and people have short attention spans, this might help. They are still hunted for ivory there will little done to protect them. If this works I am all for it. Obviously explaining the problem does nothing, no one pays attention.

[mlaiuppa]

12:37 AM on 06/27/2009

In the meantime, 15 elephants were killed in Indonesia for their ivory.

[Sepulchre]

03:06 PM on 06/27/2009

Part of the reason why they need more attention. They may not be as cute as a panda but thier plight in the wild is just as dire.

[dandypuddin]

12:55 PM on 06/28/2009

Rare elephants. Very, very sad. We either kill them or turn them into circus clowns with painted faces. We need to evolve.

[Pema]

06:54 PM on 06/26/2009

WTF is wrong with the posters before me that think this is cute?

[HelloooCanada]

10:04 PM on 06/26/2009

ignor.ance

[katocat]

03:10 PM on 06/27/2009

I suppose the same could be said about people in America that dress up their dogs.

[Pema]

06:49 PM on 06/26/2009

thailand treats their animals like garbage, i have heard of monkeys being given speed and sent into bars for the amusement of patrons. when are we going to hold our country and other accountable for its gross cruelty of animals?
i am calling the ambassador to thailnd monday. i hope others will join me.

[PrehensileOne]

12:19 PM on 06/27/2009

Seriously? It's five domestic elephants painted with watercolor, a photo op designed to be cute.
Monkeys on speed? You should visit a bar in Bangkok. The things you can see....the perspective you'd gain....the real problems you'd learn about.

[katocat]

03:00 PM on 06/27/2009

I've been there several times... I can tell you that all (well most) of that has changed in recent years.

On my first trip I saw an orangatan (sic) being led down the beach in shackles and chains and one monkey in a bar that would do tricks for the tourists.... but in the last decade or so, tourists are just as likely to throw scorn on anyone doing that to an animal and the practice seems to have stopped for the most part. My last couple trips there I have not seen any animals in bars like that.

They still parade the elephants around and encourage tourists to buy them a snack, I suppose it's a living for both the owner and the animal. I do feel sorry for the ones in the urban areas like Bangkok... When one handler came up to us with his elephant, my friend bought ALL of his bananas and said give them to the elephant. You may say he was enabling bad behavior, but the elephant seemed quite happy to munch them all and it meant the handler had to go back home and get some more or take a break.

They are such beautiful intelligent creatures.

[jweider]

06:34 PM on 06/26/2009

That's really kinky of those elephants to be wearing those panda costumes. Naughty Pandas!

[LeeCalif]

06:23 PM on 06/26/2009

You see the scars on those elephants' legs in both pictures.

[Pema]

06:57 PM on 06/26/2009

lee your awesome...buddha bless

[katocat]

03:08 PM on 06/27/2009

Perhaps... my experience with elephants in Thailand is the handlers use a small hammer like tool with a point to get them to to what they want. Their skin is very rough and thick.

They do however use them as work animals, to move logs and materials.... if it wasn't for that, many of them would probably have to be put down. They are amazingly agile for their size.

The elephant is the national symbol of Thailand and they revere them. There are more there than any other country. I'm not saying they are perfect, but I wish more people would mention that they do a lot to preserve wildlife in Thailand as well.

[gschear]

05:14 PM on 06/26/2009

I see their elephants have black eyes just like ours to now.

[HelloooCanada]

05:14 PM on 06/26/2009

idiots.

where's a good trampling when you need it?

[ChimpsWithNukes]

05:12 PM on 06/26/2009

You can't fool me, those are giant pandas in elephant costumes.

[JohnFromCensornati]

04:49 PM on 06/26/2009

Their disguises are not very convincing. They look like painted elephants to me.

[Hilodave]

04:43 PM on 06/26/2009

I don't know if there is another country that has a National Elephant day...but the Thais celebrate it with great vigor and stuff the countries elephants with bananas, corn on the cob and other treats.

[katocat]

03:09 PM on 06/27/2009

An elephant stands a better chance in Thailand than in most countries... If I was one, i would rather be working on a farm there than sitting in a zoo here.

[NilesCrane]

04:39 PM on 06/26/2009

"Daddy, I want a Pandelephant, I want a Pandelephant now!!!!!!!!!"


"I want a room a party with rooms full of laughter, ten thousand tons of ice cream!, and if I dont not get the things I am after.......im going to....SSSCCCCRRREEEAAAAMMMM!!!!"