All may not be as it seems! It is true that in the elephant camps that own their own elephants it is quite common for non-professional mahouts to be hired to drive the elephant and this can be a dangerous (to the guests) and harmful (to the elephants) practice.

However, quite often the young lads you see driving elephants are the sons of the mahout (especially for family owned elephants) and are therefore learning to become professional mahouts, carrying on what was always a generational tradition.

Of course it is best if they only drive on the weekends and go to school during the week - as our mahouts’ children do, the best of all worlds, they grow up knowing how to look after the elephants properly but also have a choice; I’m hoping one will decide to become an elephant vet but that’s a long way off for now.

Thanks