PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — The owner of a company that provides elephant rides to tourists at Cambodia’s fabled Angkor Wat temple complex has reduced the working hours of his animals after one collapsed and died in the debilitating heat enveloping Southeast Asia.
Angkor Elephant Co. owner Oan Kiri said Tuesday his remaining elephants will work 2½ hours in the morning and about two hours in the late afternoon, an hour less than previously.
He said he decided to reduce their work after a female named Sambo died Friday after carrying some tourists. He said veterinarians blamed the death on heart failure from stress triggered by the temperature, which has pushed past 100 F in recent days.
Kiri said Sambo, who was buried Friday night at the complex, was between 40 and 45 years old, and had been in his care since 2001. He said he has eight elephants still working and five others that are too old to carry tourists.
The elephant’s death triggered an outpouring of grief and criticism on social media in Cambodia and elsewhere. A petition was posted on change.org addressed to the Apsara Authority, the organization managing the Angkor archaeological site, calling for the end of elephant riding there.
Domesticated elephants used to be employed in large numbers for logging in Southeast Asia but mechanization and deforestation pushed most of them out of that role, and they are now often found at tourist attractions.
