Preview
Creation Date
1905
Description
Hunting elephants in Siam or modern-day Thailand was not about killing the animals, but rather taming them. To capture a single elephant, hunters used decoys. Hunters could capture a whole herd at once (depicted here) by surrounding the territory in which a group of wild elephants resided. The hunters slowly shrunk the circle over weeks or months, drawing the elephants to an enclosure. When the hunters finally forced them into the enclosure, the elephants were aggressive, but they eventually tired and became hungry and thirsty. Once the elephant was tamed, they could be put to work.
Elephants are intelligent creatures and can comprehend what humans want them to do. Asian Elephants, which are indigenous to Thailand, are estimated to live into their mid-50s, although the original material for this lantern slide claims they could live to one hundred years or older. White elephants are considered sacred because people believe they represent purity and have descended from heaven.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Keywords
Elephant, Elephants, Siam, Royal Elephant Hunt
