Elephant Polo: A Revolutionary Therapy for Autistic Children and Elephant Conservation
A new kind of pet therapy
It may sound counter-intuitive, but in Thailand, some of the world’s largest animals have been tasked with helping kids with special needs. It’s part of an initiative called the Thai Elephant Therapy Program (TETP) in the Northern Thailand town of Lampang, where rescued elephants are trained to work with autistic children. It’s an unusual program, to say the least, supported by an equally unusual event: elephant polo. (These are the 12 things you should never say to an autism parent.)
Elephants play polo?
The annual King‘s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament raises awareness, and money ($1.4 million to date), for a range of elephant charities. The tournament, now in its 15th year, involves 10 teams, each with three elephants, three players, and three mahouts (professional elephant handlers; here they ride up in front of the players, since really, there’s no such a thing as a “professional” elephant polo player).
Elephants don’t really play polo
Although the players try to strategize, realistically, an elephant goes where an elephant wants to go. And that’s okay, according to Thai Elephant Polo Association president Chris Stafford: “The whole purpose of the tournament is to get elephants off the street and to raise money for charity.”
Elephants endangered
Asian elephants are one of the most endangered wild animals species in the world; there are fewer than 5,000 elephants currently in Thailand, a 95 percent drop from a century ago. Although they’re revered as sacred in Thailand, they’re still used as beasts of burden in many urban areas. The city conditions are extremely difficult for elephants, as there are dangers from cars, crowded streets, and extreme heat.
Polo elephants get spoiled
Luckily, the elephants who participate in the tournament play for only 30 minutes; the rest of the time they have health and wellness checkups and get an opportunity to chow down at a massive all-you-can-eat fruit and vegetable buffet filled with elie favorites such as bananas, pineapple, and corn.
Rescuing elephants, rescuing kids
Although the King’s Cup started in 2001 to get elephants out of the city and into the forest, as the tournament progressed, it began to work with charities that benefit elephants, including the Thai Elephant Therapy Project. It may not sound like the next logical step to have rescued elephants work with kids on the autism spectrum, but kids and elephants seem to have a natural affinity for each other, you wouldn’t believe their natural connection.
Close encounters of the elephant kind
The bonding is a sight to behold at the annual Chang Noi (Little Elephant) Kid’s Day at the King’s Cup each year when hundreds of local school children spend the day learning about and interacting with the pachyderm players and squealing with delight as the elephants come trunk to nose with their pint-size fans.
Beasts of unburden
Elephant experts also see it as a perfect match: “Elephants have a basic empathy” that makes them perfect to work with special needs children, according to John Roberts, Director of Elephants and Conservation for Anantara (Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas sponsors the tournament and runs the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation near Chang Mai). “They look at us without judging us,” he adds of elephants, which is an important aspect for families who may feel under a magnifying glass in other situations.
First-of-its-kind program
Animal therapy isn’t new, but having elephants work with kids is a first, so TETP, which was created in conjunction with Chiang Mai University, has developed a range of special activities designed to provide autistic children with an opportunity to develop their social interaction and emotional skills.
Elephant sports are good fun—and good therapy
The kids work with occupational therapists to both learn how to budget and shop for food and then, with the mahouts, get to hand-feed the elephants. They also work on motor skills by tossing balls with the playful pachyderms and help bathe and care for the affectionate and intelligent gentle giants. “Results from the project showed that the children displayed improved adaptive behavior, sensory processing, postural control, balance and improved social skills, while their parents also reported perceived improvement and satisfaction with the program,” says Roberts. So although this is currently the world’s first and only elephant therapy program for kids with autism, we certainly hope it won’t be the last.
