Science Questions

How do you make an elephant run?

Helen -   These elephants were in a rehabilitation centre - they’ve all been rescued from logging operations, I believe, in Thailand.  They’re often used to go into the forest and drag out trees that have been felled.  These elephants would be paired with a handler as soon as they get to the rehabilitation centre.  They’ve worked with an individual person who gets to know that elephant and can handle them and really control them and understand their different behaviours and characters.  They ride on top of the elephants and presumably know how to calm them down or speed them up.  But these are people who really understand the elephants.  They play a key part in this study – it wasn’t just the scientists coming in and messing around with the elephants!

February 2010