Woman Accused Of Doing Pull Ups On Elephant's Tusks Receives Backlash
The woman, identified as Emma Roberts, was visiting the Adventures with Elephants elephant park in Mabula District in South Africa, where the incident took place.?
A gym owner's actions have been severely criticised after she was pictured doing pull-ups on an elephant's tusks.
The woman, identified as Emma Roberts, was visiting the Adventures with Elephants elephant park in Mabula District in South Africa, where the incident took place.
Instagram
The animal sanctuary is also facing backlash for its decision allowing the gym-owner to pose for pictures which show her hanging from the elephant¡¯s tusks. But this isn¡¯t the first time that the sanctuary, Adventures with Elephants, in the Mabula District, has allowed such a thing to happen.
Pictures from their social media have shown others hanging off the tusks, and as many as three people riding the elephants - a practice widely considered cruel because of the strain it puts on elephant¡¯s backs.
Instagram
Roberts was pictured performing the pull and the incident sparked anger online.
One person said: ¡°Absolutely abhorrent. People don't understand the horror that wild animals go through to 'perform.' Elephant spines are not meant for holding humans' weight.¡±
And another added: ¡°Can't believe she did that. She doesn't have common sense and empathy. The elephant deserves to be treated with respect. Be kind to them.¡±
Despite the uproar, Roberts defended her actions saying that she disagrees. She doesn't think that sharing such a fantastic moment with a magnificent animal is cruel in any way, shape or form.
Also read: Elephant Who Fell Into Well Rescued After 16 Hrs As Forest Officials Ensure The Jumbo's Safety
Representational Image/BBC
She even agreed that the animal deserved to be treated with respect, adding to her statement that what she did caused no harm to the elephant, and it was done without any malicious intent.
However, for the sake of the marvelous facility that gave her the chance to have a magnificent experience with the great behemoths, she opted to delete her post.
"For the sake of this amazing facility, I have opted to remove my post. I do not agree that sharing an amazing moment with this animal is cruel in any way. However, there are many humans out there who only see the negative. Beating elephants is cruel, keeping them in horrible environments, and killing them for their ivory is cruel. (But) providing them home in their natural environment and educating people about how intelligent and wonderful they are is not cruelty," Roberts said in a statement.
I'm not sure what she was thinking while performing the act, but it definitely isn't okay to use animals as props.
Also read: Kerala Will Soon Have The World's Largest Care And Cure Facility For Elephants
