Our symbol at @rasamrestaurant is the majestic and wonderful Elephant - a traditional symbol of divinity and royalty. For centuries, India has regarded the majestic royal beast, the elephant, as its cultural symbol. The Hindu God, Lord Ganesha, highly revered and more specifically as the remover of obstacles and thought to bring good luck, has many attributes and is readily identified by his elephant head. Almost a third of Asian elephants live in captivity, largely in Thailand, India, and Myanmar. Increasingly, they're used in the tourism industry, where many are trained to perform in shows, gives rides, and interact up-close with tourists. The majority are tamed using fear-based methods, including with an instrument called a bull hook—a wooden stick with a sharp metal hook at the end. THERE IS MUCH CRUELTY INVOLVED IN ‘TRAINING’ AN ELEPHANT TO BE TAMED AND TO DO TRICKS AND PEOPLE VISITING THESE TOURIST SPOTS WHERE ELEPHANTS ARE BEING USED, ARE ADVISED NOT TO PARTICIPATE. IT’S THE ONLY WAY THIS FORM OF (CRUEL) ‘ENTERTAINMENT’ WILL BE STOPPED. The Asian elephant is classified as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Its population has declined by an estimated 50 percent over the past 75 years, and there are an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 Asian elephants left in the wild. The escalation of poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and mistreatment in captivity are just some of the threats to both African and Asian elephants. On August 12, 2012, the inaugural World Elephant Day was launched to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. The elephant is loved, revered and respected by people and cultures around the world, yet we balance on the brink of seeing the last of this magnificent creature. #worldelephantday #asianelephant #africanelephant #endangered #bekindtoelephants #lordganesha #goodluck #rasam