MEGAN MCCUBBIN

Presenter of TV’s Springwatch

I COUNT myself lucky every day to live in a world with so much life. It’s nothing like it was 100 or even 50 years ago, there’s still so much biodiversity left to fight for.

Elephants are one of the most astonishing animals; their sentience, their family bonds, their ability to communicate, their elegance and their character. You can’t help but be mesmerised by their presence. I suppose it’s understandable why humans are drawn to them as we see so much of ourselves reflected in their behaviour.

Elephants are proven to be one of the most empathetic species in the world which is a trait you’d like to imagine we share with them… but sadly, we are somewhat lacking.

We might be highly intelligent in some ways but we are also remarkably ignorant – persecuting the species we claim to love.

Solutions

And we do so because we are hesitant to change our mindsets and behaviours even when the solutions are right in front of us.

Every year thousands of UK tourists travel to Asia and seek out an encounter with these giants, unknowingly (in most cases) paying into an industry of immense cruelty and suffering. The sale of tickets from UK companies to unethical elephant tourism facilities abroad must be banned. Asian elephants are endangered, and the fact that they get chained up, beaten and starved just to satisfy the demand of elephant riding and selfies is a disgrace.

We have an opportunity to help elephants, so why wouldn’t we take it? After all, there are many ways to see elephants ethically and the best encounters happen when the animal you are watching is happy and free.