Help Stop Cruel Sports Events at the Chitwan Elephant Festival

Dozens of elephants are about to endure terrible abuse as a profoundly cruel event returns to Nepal at the end of December. The Chitwan Elephant Festival, held annually in Nepal, is a disturbing spectacle where elephants are forced to perform in unnatural ways for entertainment. The festival includes exhibitions like an elephant beauty pageant and sporting events such as elephant polo, football, and racing.

The festival was canceled for three years due to the pandemic. When it returned in 2023, organizers dropped the elephant sports events in response to awareness campaigns by groups like PETA, which highlighted the cruelty involved in training elephants for these activities. Shocking footage from past festivals revealed elephants being violently beaten to force them to perform, including a baby elephant who was repeatedly stabbed behind the ear and left with bloody wounds in an effort to make her participate in a football match. Elephants at the festival have also been subjected to having their ears violently pulled, being struck with bullhooks, and beaten with sticks and wooden knives, all in the name of entertainment.

Now, in a devastating setback for animal welfare, the festival is set to go ahead from December 26th-30th, with the brutal elephant sports events returning to the program.

Campaigners in Nepal are working tirelessly to stop this horrific exploitation, but the government of Nepal and the Ministry of Forests and Environment remain silent on the issue. Worse still, the government often provides elephants for the festival, a clear violation of conservation principles under which these elephants should be protected, not exploited.

Please join Species Unite in standing with animal activists in Nepal who are opposing the abuse of elephants by urging Mr. Baburam Ghimire, Under Secretary of Nepal's Ministry of Forests and Environment, and Mr. Badri Raj Dhungana, Spokesperson for the Ministry, to refrain from providing government elephants for the Chitwan Festival’s cruel sports events, such as polo and football. Government elephants are raised solely for conservation purposes and should never be exploited for entertainment.