A groundbreaking new documentary from Lek Chailert, founder of Save Elephant Foundation, exposes the truth behind the elephant tourism industry.
Lek is a world renowned Asian elephant conservationist and TIME Magazine’s Hero of Asia, and the founder of Elephant Nature Park. Her movie is called Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story, directed by American filmmaker Ashley Bell. This film chronicles Lek and Ashley’s journey as they embark on a daring mission 480 miles across Thailand to rescue a 70-year old trekking elephant and bring her to freedom at the sanctuary.
We often hear about African elephants slaughtered for their ivory, but sadly the plight of the Asian elephant has been largely overlooked. The Asian elephants are struggling for survival and their entire species is being decimated as their natural habitat is destroyed for human development.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, thousands of Asian elephants are suffering in captivity around the world. They are the elephants most commonly used as tourist attractions and held captive in substandard zoos, abused in circuses, and exploited for elephant rides.
Love & Bananas aims to bring awareness to the plight of the Asian elephant by exposing the cruel secret training method that nearly every captive elephant endures to become a service animal. The Asian ritual known as Pajan, or The Crush Box, is a brutal process that subjects the elephants to extreme pain, torture, and deprivation. Although the documentary does not show the entire ritual in detail, they do want everyone to be aware that this training process is still rampant throughout Asia.
The greater mission of Love & Bananas is to open people’s hearts and minds to the suffering of all elephants in the tourism industry. Lek Chailert believes that the key to saving Asian elephants is education. This documentary aims to ignite a new way of thinking about this species, and shows what can be done to prevent their extinction.
Please remember to be a responsible traveler; it is always best to view animals in the wild or volunteer at a real sanctuary. Keep in mind that there are many fake sanctuaries, rescues, and orphanages popping up throughout Asia. If you ever see an animal chained up, that is a huge red flag that there is abuse and cruelty going on. Remember that a true sanctuary would never keep any animals in chains.
And please, wherever you go and whatever you do, please do not ride elephants anywhere in the world. Ever.
What’s New…
THANK YOU for enlightening the world — THANK YOU for instructing on WHAT to do in order to BAN the abusive industry of elephant exploitation and abuse — THANK YOU — let’s rescue these magnificent, sweet animals and give them a happy, normal life.
Leave the animals ALONE! They weren’t born for our entertainment!
I HAVE NEVER WANTED A RIDE ON AN ELEPHANT OR NEVER WANT TO. I HAVE EDUCATED MY 8 YEAR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER ABOUT CIRCUSES, FAIRS AND RODEOS . I WILL CONTINUE TO TEACH HER ABOUT ANIMALS.
Cruelty needs to STOP!
Anyone who can ill treat an elephant Is not fit to be on the planet. Elephants are beautiful animals with the most family ordinated existence. We should follow their lead and be peaceful and love our family without violence.
Anyone who can ill treat an elephant Is not fit to be on the planet. Elephants are beautiful animals with the most family ordinated existence. We should follow their lead and be peaceful and love our family without violence.
Elephants are the most intelligent animals and what these sick inhuman scum do to them is appauling abusive sick degenerate behaviour the have to be stopped now how can anyone do this to any animal they should be jailed vermin abusing scum
I can’t feel any sicker regarding the animal cruelty in this world. I believe the wrong people are in power .There’s no respect and certainly no compassion to animals .They seem to be a commodity and not a living breathing being. CHANGE IN THOUGHT AND EDUCATION MUST BE A PRIORITY . Animals must not be used and abused for money , it’s a disgrace and immoral !
Animals should not be use at all for our entertainment. Thank you for making a film that tells how much the animals ,that are used in entertainment for tourism, are greatly suffering.
WHAT A TOUCHING FINAL PICTURE OF THE ELEPHANTS ACCEPTING THE FILM MAKER AS PART OF THEIR HERD
Colleen I totally agree with you, you said it beautifully. It sounds like an amazing documentary and I hope that the abuse of these beautiful giants will end soon. It literally breaks my heart to see them being mistreated and abused like that. It’s so unfair that animals suffer like that. Thank you Lek and Ashley for doing what you are doing, you are two incredible women. God bless you for what you do.
Sick evil demonic humans.
Wish we can wipe them off face of the earth.
Because of works like yours . . . . Someday the suffering will end. Thank you for educating the public on this tragedy.
Brilliant. Thank you.
Gr8 work.
Dearest Lek and Ashley, I would just like to send a warm THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all that you do to help save the elephants! For years & years it’s been breaking my heart the cruel & abusive behavior these grand and graceful animals have endured over the years. THANK YOU for putting their story out there to try to create awareness and educate people as to what is really happening to these courageous beautiful animals God has blessed us with. I don’t think I will ever ever be able to understand why man does what man does…. I don’t know it absolutely shatters my heart to know the suffering that happens and continues to happen… so THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for doing what you so. God Bless you both… and may God Bless and PROTECT our gorgeous animals! Amen.
(((HUGS)))
Man’s cruelty to animals should come to an end.
THE HORRIFIC ABUSE & CRUELTY TOWARDS ELEPHANTS NEEDS MUCH MORE PUBLICITY, PEOPLE SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM & HOW THESE ANIMALS SUFFER…
THEY SHOULD NEVER BE TRÊATED OR ABUSED IN SUCH HORRENDOUS WAYS
Elephants should be treated in a kind and undsrstandi g manner. Tbey are gentle and i telligent and abuserz should be educated to treat them in a more compassionate mannrr.Linda
GREAT movie! Definately see it if you can!
I (we) have been protesting circuses because of the abuse of elephants……(and all other animals).
But, unfortunately, a lot of the stupid parents say “My kid is going to be entertained and I don’t
care who has to suffer”. What does that tell you about their mentality ? And others say “I don’t
want to hear about it (the abuse) because it will discourage us from going to the circus.” But we
keep protesting anyway. Hopefully we will get through to some of them and try to help the elephants.
Shut them down. Wild animals belong in the wild free to run!
Again sick evil people that can treat animals this way
Thank you for everything you have done . We cant standthe eharmony commercial where the single female wants to meet a nice guy while sitting on an elephant thats taking a bath.also.
Can everybody please just stop riding elephants! Who is still going over there riding elephants? Just let these animals live in peace, for crying out loud! And I totally agree: either observe animals in the wild or volunteer at a sanctuary. Just make sure it’s a real sanctuary and not some cruel tourist trap.
Tourism elephants are forced to carry multiple people on their backs from sun-up to sun-down, 365 days a year. Then all night long they are chained-up standing in feces and urine. Their lives are hell-on-earth living nightmares. Google the word “Phajaan” and you will see how the elephants are trained, it’s brutal pure evil.
Thanku Lek and Ashley for your work bringing this to the attention of the public.
Please explain what is so brutal about a 150 lb. or so human on top of a 2 ton? animal. I wouldn’t mind if a rabbit rode on my shoulders.
Google “Phajaan” and click on the images and videos, this is how elephants are trained for the tourism industry. If you still do not understand the problem after looking at those photographs, than sadly you never will…
The way train and break them is brutal. If you don’t understand this then I feel sorry for you.
ITS ALL ABOUT HOW THEY ARE TRAINED HARRY….READ BETWEEN THE LINES!!!
You absolute moron. Would YOU like to work all day for nothing and be tortured too? They’re not volunteering!
Humans are downright cruel. This should never be tolerated by ANY government. It’s time for a worldwide change, we need to start respecting ALL of our wildlife and help them instead of hurt them!!
THANK YOU for bringing to light what our beautiful, sensitive, smart elephants endure on a daily basis — AND, putting their plight out there for the world TO KNOW — our elephants deserve to be cared for and protected — they too are living beings deserving of love and respect — we must DO RIGHT by these magnificent elephants and must ensure that the rest of the world does also.
Thank you for exposing the cruelty. Animal cruelty is a crime and should be prosecuted and stopped.
We all have to realize our responsibility and duty to help.
Thank you to all who try to rescue elephants and give them a home in the sanctuary. This is great work. Well done.
remamber Pajan is not animal friendly happening
Wonderful people, wonderful animals. We have to do something to stop this carnage!
So much cruelty we are blind to – so much pain and abuse we know exists but still pretend not to be aware of. As long as humans are ‘entertained’ and get their will whatever that might be we don’t care who we are hurting. Will we wake up when its too late ?!? A few bravehearts fight a lonely miserable war – my deep respect for their love and hearts and dedication !!!
I agree with you one hundred percent.
Susanne said: “A few bravehearts fight a lonely miserable war” and she’s absolutely right. It’s seems that the evil in this world outweighs the good, and most people are somewhere in the middle and just unaware or do not care. My heart breaks for the precious elephants and all other abused animals suffering in silence.