Elephants' Painting at Mea Sa Elephant Camp, Chiang Mai, Thailand - 【タイ】ゾウの天才的な絵画 

Sofia Winkler This behavior is NOT something the elephants choose to do on their own of their own free will. They only paint when a trainer is standing next to them holding their ear and giving them physical commands by way of physically on their ear and also by voice commands said quietly to the elephant. The elephants, according to a mahout in another video I watched, are made to train multiple times everyday, day after day, the same painting, learning the strokes to get better at it. Yes the elephants are extremely intelligent, empathetic, sentient beings to be sure. Because they are so intelligent, their trunk so sensitive, their memory so good they can be trained to do this. But that doesn’t mean they want to do it, or enjoy doing it. They are following the commands given to them and learned by them about exactly how to move the brush. Many were horribly abused to be “broken” to submit to commands. Another practice is to really injure the very young elephant after taking it from it’s mother. Then have the mahout nurse the elephant back to health. The young elephant then learns to trust and rely on the mahout that took care of it, not knowing it was all a betrayal and abuse to begin with. There are NO internationally recognized animal conservationists, biologists, or activists speaking out on behalf of this practice saying it is just marvelous and perfectly fine for the elephants to do. There are none of them jumping up and down with excitement to study the “amazing painting elephants” who can even write letters in multiple languages! But for years I have heard them state repeatedly that wild animals should never be made to perform unnatural behaviors repetitiously for the entertainment of humans, as it is unhealthy and abusive to the animals and exploits them. It exploits them for human profit, which is what’s happening here. They sell these paintings. I have researched it online. That is always the motivation behind making wild animals perform...human profit.

Yes, It is reported that elephants can feel sad when they found other elephant's bones especially their family member's bones. They will touch those bones and don't want to leave. The elephants also will follow the elder elephant's lead even though she/he is not the strongest one among them. Those give people a feeling they are acting like a human tribe. The Asian elephant have been living among humans for several thousand years, they are much smarter than dogs. Maybe even smarter than some human kids. The painting is the proof, for south Asians they are the family members. Biggest pet in human history.

アンビリーバボー

Angie, YOU SAID: "amazing to watch" == Yes, you're their target audience. YOU SAID: "and a would buy one of there paintings" == I guess I shouldn't be surprised that someone as barely literate as you are would also be a person willing to give money to scam artists. YOU SAID: "suda was the 1st painting elephant id seen" == Well, maybe Suda was the first one you've seen, but this parlor trick is at least a century old. YOU SAID: "a kept watching the video as a couldnt believe an elephant painting they are amazing" == What do you mean you couldn't believe it? You obviously DO believe it!! Sorry to rain on your parade, but this is just a parlor trick. Elephants don't actually paint. The elephant is trained to steer the trunk in the direction that the trainer pulls the ear (like a joystick control). The elephant doesn't have the foggiest idea what it's painting.

Meeeeeee too >0

Because the elephant is 100 times stronger than him

Because they don't care about the elephants, and there has been proof of abuse of these elephant painters. This place is a totally for-profit operation who are known to abuse the elephant to get them to paint these pictures in an effort to sell the paintings to tourists. This is not an elephant rescue, they aren't doing this to benefit the elephants, and it makes me sad to see it.

sacredsiren WHAT?!?!?? I did not know that!! I was very happy to see Suda painting but now I am hopping mad & wish I could take her & the other elephants away from that horrible place!!!

@@alegriart actually the elephants ate taught by repeating the same basic pictures, stroke by stroke. The mahouts do NOT torture or force the elephants to paint. If the elephant doesn't want to paint, it doesn't paint. Once an elephant has mastered a painting, or technique, about all the handler does is hand the elephant the appropriate brush. There is a bond between the elephant and mahout (often life-long) that allows trust and friendship, on a level that those of us who haven't had the opportunity to experience it, really can't fully understand. Also, a lot can be learned by observing the elephant's body language while it is painting. There is nothing to suggest in the animal's behavior that it is under any stress, or in any pain. On the contrary, the elephants seem to be enjoying themselves. I seriously doubt a stressed or angry elephant would have anything to do with painting. Try not to fall into the trap of projecting your own emotions and prejudices into situations you do not fully understand.

Mike Johnson and I'm supposed to believe rubbing a sharp hook or nail rubbing on an elephants skin hurts it? I mean you and I can rub sharp nails and claws on our skin as well without it hurting and our skin is probably 1/100th as thick as an elephant. I mean seriously? Go rub a knife on yourself man, it doesn't hurt til u start bleeding and for some reason I would imagine an animal that's evolved to survive lion attacks probably has some pretty strong nerve endings. The argument where they are electrically shocked or prodded might hold some water, but if you honestly think rubbing something sharp on their skin hurts you give it no credit. You could have Brock Lesnar beat on the thing for an hour and it probably wouldn't bat an eye.

"Those not worried about elephant welfare beat the elephants until they learn." How can one beat an elephant to make him learning painting? This sounds like a nonsense.

1waterlilys that's heart breaking

If u beat them when they are grow up they will kill u!..... What a nonsense.....elephant have to be trained and also need to work, (Do u know how much its eat a day?,wild elephant also come ate at farm and destroy manything) there will be no more forest ,no free live in the wild either!!! This way can coexist!......its still better than just let them live in the zoo. Br grown up,and dont just live in the unreal dream!

It's the same painting. But, you're correct when you think it's just a parlor trick. See some of my other comments if you want to know how the trick is done.

Your not very educated about what abuse us.

1004 C they were trained to paint but not in an abusive way! If an elephant don't want to paint, it won't. There are a lot of abusive things going on but elephant painting is not.