Humans in Asia first
took advantage of the Asian Elephant's
cooperative nature and tamed it for use as a
beast of burden more than 4,000 years ago. Ever
since then, the people in central and southeast
Asia have used elephants to haul lumber,
transport crops, and even to carry heavy weapons
and soldiers into battle.
Some of these practices have
persisted right up to modern times. Even today,
when traveling on the Indian subcontinent it is
possible to come across an elephant working a
field, just like the ones depicted here.
However, the use of elephants in this way is
gradually declining as both the agricultural and
logging industries convert to the use of
tractors and other machines. So, these are
scenes that will be less and less likely in the
future.
It argued that such elephants are too tame and
too dependent on humans to be released back into
the wild. So when elephants are displaced from
their roles hauling lumber, they often are
transferred by their owners to use in the
tourist
industry. |
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