Thousands of Asian elephants remain in working relationships with humans across South and Southeast Asia, in contexts ranging from tourism to logging, with welfare standards varying dramatically between operations.
The welfare of working elephants in Asia spans a wide spectrum. At the worst end, young elephants are subjected to traumatic breaking procedures, chaining for most of their lives, and forced to perform distressing activities for tourists. At the best end, operations using positive reinforcement, allowing natural behaviour including foraging and social interaction, and employing mahouts trained in welfare-positive methods provide reasonable welfare. The challenge for visitors is distinguishing between operations on this spectrum, as superficial appearances can be misleading.