New Documentary Sheds Light on Baby Elephant Smuggling [Video]

A documentary expected to air tomorrow on Link TV tackles a very delicate issue: that of illegally trading baby elephants in Thailand, all for the sake of boosting the national tourist industry.

The documentary's complete title is “Baby Elephant Smuggling Exposed: How Thailand’s Tourist Industry is Driving a Brutal Trade in Baby Elephants.”

As the people who participated in making this video report explain, people visiting Thailand more often than not wish to either ride, or simply take pictures with elephants, since this apparently contributes to their keeping themselves entertained.

In order to satisfy this demand, local communities need to capture wild specimens, regardless of the fact that this species in presently endangered.

Shocking reports indicate that, in order for the smugglers to get to the baby elephants, their mothers and sometimes several members of their families end up being killed.

Moreover, once the cub is caught, it is repeatedly beaten in order to make it “behave.”

The video below gives you a first glimpse of what the documentary is all about.