Elephant friendly tourist guide

Be part of the solution

The best place to see elephants is in the wild, where they can roam freely and exhibit their natural behaviours. However, if you choose to visit an elephant venue, ensure it prioritises the well-being of the animals—offering them space to socialise, forage, and live without chains or forced interactions with tourists.

Responsible venues focus on education and conservation rather than entertainment, allowing elephants to be elephants.

What's in a name?

A venue may call itself a sanctuary, rescue centre or retirement home for elephants, but don’t assume this means it’s high welfare. Do your research before booking and use our guide below to avoid being misled.

Is touching allowed?

Only visit venues where you can look, not touch.

Elephants are wild animals that belong in the wild. If a venue allows you to get close enough to ride, bath or touch them, it’s because they’ve been cruelly trained.

Are the elephants behaving like elephants?

If the elephants in a venue are not allowed to freely move and express natural behaviour, it’s not the place for you.

Elephants in the wild spend their days roaming long distances, grazing and socialising with other elephants, not confined in small enclosures or forced to perform.

Are there baby elephants there?

They might be cute, but if you can see or touch a baby elephant, especially without its mum, then the venue is not elephant-friendly.

Baby elephants are tourist magnets, but true elephant-friendly venues shouldn’t allow breeding. You shouldn’t be seeing young elephants, except for orphanages where babies are rescued from the wild.

Are the elephants and people safe?

Elephants should always be treated with kindness and respect, and hooks shouldn’t be used unless in a real emergency.

Being wild animals, captive elephants can be unpredictable and dangerous, especially if they're being crowded. Many tourists and mahouts are injured and killed each year. Even in elephant-friendly venues you’ll often see mahouts accompanying elephants at a distance, to keep everyone safe.

 Elephant Tourism Report 2026

Every year, our Elephant Tourism Report offers insights into the scale, practices, and welfare conditions of elephants being used in tourist attractions. We conduct field research and visit elephant venues to see for ourselves exactly how elephants are being treated and how venues are run.

Take a look at our key findings for this year or download the full report below to read more.

Key statistics

Right now, thousands of elephants around the world are suffering in the name of tourism. We surveyed 236 elephant venues, holding a total of 2,849 elephants, and found that:

• 2 out of 3 elephants are kept in poor living conditions
• More than 50% of the elephants we saw were kept on short chains during the day
• 42% of elephants are still used for rides
• 1 in 5 elephants are housed at venues that offer shows

Areas of progress

But there is hope. 

When surveying elephant venues and the wider elephant tourism landscape, we found reasons to be positive.

More than 200 travel companies have committed to wildlife-friendly policies, and the number of elephant rides and shows on offer has declined. We also found that 7% of elephants were involved in higher-welfare, observation-only experiences.

We’re pleased to see that our reports and our campaigns are having an impact. However, there is still a lot more to be done.

Ongoing challenges

Sadly, the overall welfare landscape for captive elephants has not meaningfully changed in the 15 years since our first survey. The number of elephants kept in tourist venues has risen since 2019, and the captive breeding of elephants continues.

Many elephants are kept chained in dirty, noisy shelters, with limited nutrition and social interaction. Captive elephant protections and associated enforcement continue to be weak, with welfare certification schemes voluntary and ineffective.

Close-contact experiences — like washing and hand feeding elephants — have surged. These experiences are marketed as ethical alternatives at venues claiming to be “sanctuaries” or “rescue centres”. But they mask elephant exploitation, including punishment-based training and regular restraint.

Even well-meaning tourists will struggle to find ethical elephant experiences based on elephant venue and tour company marketing materials.

Our recommendations

For the travel industry: Promote truly responsible tourism. Stop promoting any forms of close-contact elephant interaction tourism, audit supply chains, and educate travellers on what wildlife-friendly tourism really is.

For legislators: Protect captive elephant populations from commercial exploitation. End the commercial breeding of captive elephants, establish and enforce elephant welfare standards, and create publicly accessible data on all captive elephants.

For local communities: Organisations like World Animal Protection, provide local communities with the financial, technical, and marketing support they need to move away from businesses built on cruel wildlife tourism. Thanks to your support, we can help them to make a living from running ethical elephant sanctuaries.

For travellers: Support best-practice sanctuaries. Research elephant venues and tour companies before travelling to ensure you only ever engage in experiences that prioritise elephant welfare.

You can learn more by reading the full report.  

Download the Elephant Tourism Report 2026

Previous elephant tourism reports

Read our key findings from 16 years' worth of research on elephant welfare and find links to download past reports.

Elephant tourism report 2020: Taken for a ride 2

Only 7% of the 3,837 elephants we surveyed for this report were kept in truly high-welfare, observation-only venues. While 30% experienced improved (yet still inadequate) conditions, the majority of elephants were kept in severely inadequate conditions. 

This report also raised concerns about the financial impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry and the knock-on effect for captive elephant welfare.

Download report

Elephant tourism report 2016: Taken for a ride

We looked at nearly 3,000 elephants across 220 tourist venues in Asia. We found that 3 in 4 elephants were living in poor and unacceptable conditions, and that all these elephants were kept at venues offering elephant rides. When not giving rides, elephants were typically chained day and night.

Download report

Elephant tourism report 2010: Wildlife on a tightrope

In 2010, we conducted our first Elephant Tourism Report. We surveyed 118 venues. 53% of those with captive elephants didn’t meet the basic needs of the animals in their care. Education on the importance of protecting wild animals was rare, with only 6% of wildlife entertainment tourism venues offering comprehensive education.

Download report