It should surprise no one that even though elephants enjoy playing and even play-fighting in the wild, they don’t play polo. But in Thailand, the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort holds the annual King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, where these keenly intelligent animals are forced to perform for the crowd’s entertainment.
PETA Asia eyewitnesses visited the resort and filmed handlers in a holding area next to the polo grounds repeatedly beating and jabbing captive elephants’ heads with bullhooks — weapons resembling fireplace pokers with a sharp metal hook on one end. The handlers also used these barbaric implements to yank the animals by their extremely sensitive ears. When not performing, the elephants are often chained so tightly that they can barely take a single step in any direction.