Apsara Authority moves elephants out of Angkor area

via Khmer Times, 15 November 2019 and other sources: The news that elephant rides will soon no longer be available at Angkor has been blowing up lately. It is a welcome and long-awaited news, and I hope that similar elephant rides in Ayutthaya will be discontinued as well.

The Apsara Authority and Elephant Management Association has started transferring elephants in the Angkor area to Bos Thom community forest in Siem Reap province’s Sout Nikom district in a bid to stop the animals from being used to ferry tourists around.

Long Kosal, Apsara Authority spokesman, yesterday said that for several years elephants have been used to serve the tourism sector in the Angkor area.

He said that to promote the well-being of the animals and allow them to live in their natural environment, the Elephant Management Association, in cooperation with the Apsara Authority, is gradually transporting elephants out of the Angkor area.

Source: Apsara Authority moves elephants out of Angkor area – Khmer Times

See also:

• Cambodia’s Angkor temple complex ending elephant rides | AP via ABC News, 14 Nov 2019

• Cambodia: Elephant rides to end at Angkor temple | AAP, via Stuff.co.nz, 15 Nov 2019

• Elephant rides at Cambodia’s famed Angkor to be banned from 2020 | Xinhua, 15 Nov 2019

• Angkor Wat Is Finally Putting a Stop to Its Elephant Rides | Vice, 15 Nov 2019

• Cambodia: Come 2020, There Will Be No Elephant Ride At Angkor Archeological Park | Republic, 15 Nov 2019

• Tourists Can No Longer Take Elephant Rides At Angkor Wat In Cambodia Starting 2020 | Says, 16 Nov 2019

• Cambodia to ban elephant rides at Angkor temples | AFP, via Jakarta Post, 16 Nov 2019