The elephants can’t move. Metal chains are wrapped around their legs, holding them firmly in place. The only thing they can do is sway their heads back and forth, and tentatively reach out their trunks.
But the main issue is the chaining itself, which stops elephants from expressing natural behaviors such as lying down, playing, socializing and bathing themselves in dust or water. Chained elephants also tend to develop repetitive patterns of behavior due to stress, also called stereotypical behaviors, such as compulsively swaying back and forth in their chains.
Curiously enough, a sign on the closed elephant enclosure says that construction was due to finish in July 2018, yet the work doesn’t seem close to being done, Singh explained — and this may have a lot to do with the zoo’s finances.
“The zoo is losing money — like millions every year,” Singh said.
A tarp covering the closed elephant enclosure at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park | Friends of the Orangutans
But it’s not just the chaining of elephants that worries Singh — he’s also concerned that the zoo, which is supposed to double as a rescue and rehabilitation center, is not providing adequate medical care for its animals.
In May, a critically endangered Borneo elephant named Yapid, who had been rescued from the wild 13 years prior, died at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. And a little over a month later, another Borneo elephant, a 3-year-old female named Gendu who was born in captivity, also passed away. The zoo never released any postmortem reports, so the causes of death remain mysterious.
If the other elephants continue to be chained up in unsanitary conditions, Singh fears that more elephants will die.
A photo of one of the dead elephants leaked to the media | Friends of the Orangutans
“If you stand or sleep on bare concrete, day in and day out, you are going to have problems,” Singh said. “And elephants are big and very heavy. So to make them stand or lie down on concrete is really bad for their health.”