While the elephant is a symbol of Thailand, it is common to see the animals roaming Bangkok with their mahouts (elephant drivers), who sell bags of sugar cane to tourists to feed to the elephants.
While the elephant is a symbol of Thailand, it is common to see the animals roaming Bangkok with their mahouts (elephant drivers), who sell bags of sugar cane to tourists to feed to the elephants.
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At the Maetaman Elephant camp in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, an elephant paints during a performance for tourists.
At the Maetaman Elephant camp in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, an elephant paints during a performance for tourists.
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Tourists watch a Sri Lankan elephant walking through a field in Minneriya National Park.
Tourists watch a Sri Lankan elephant walking through a field in Minneriya National Park.
ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
An elephant rests in the afternoon sun with the new prosthetic made for her at the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) hospital in the Mae Yao National Reserve of Lampang, Thailand. The elephant lost a foot years ago after stepping on a land mine and now is on her third prosthetic.
An elephant rests in the afternoon sun with the new prosthetic made for her at the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) hospital in the Mae Yao National Reserve of Lampang, Thailand. The elephant lost a foot years ago after stepping on a land mine and now is on her third prosthetic.
Paula Bronstein/Getty Images AsiaPac/Getty Images
An elephant pulls a heavy log down a hill in an elephant logging camp in Myanmar.
An elephant pulls a heavy log down a hill in an elephant logging camp in Myanmar.
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An elephant performs for tourists at a show in Pattaya, Thailand. Smuggling the world's largest land animal across an international border sounds like a mammoth undertaking, but activists say that doesn't stop traffickers supplying Asian elephants to Thai tourist attractions.
An elephant performs for tourists at a show in Pattaya, Thailand. Smuggling the world's largest land animal across an international border sounds like a mammoth undertaking, but activists say that doesn't stop traffickers supplying Asian elephants to Thai tourist attractions.
PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
At a circus in Thailand, an elephant dunks a basketball to entertain tourists.
At a circus in Thailand, an elephant dunks a basketball to entertain tourists.
PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Foreign tourists ride an elephant during a sightseeing tour in the ancient city of Sigiriya -- or Lion Rock -- in Sri Lanka.
Foreign tourists ride an elephant during a sightseeing tour in the ancient city of Sigiriya -- or Lion Rock -- in Sri Lanka.
ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP/AFP/Getty Images