A video has emerged showing a baby elephant collapse in the street, with a rope round the neck tying it to its mother, who was giving rides to tourists.
The footage shows the elephants walking through the streets, tied together with various ropes all over their body. The mother elephant has a saddle attached to her back. The baby then falls down, but is dragged by the neck by its mother, as the rope is too short.
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The animal is believed to be around a year old and looks exhausted as it walks round the streets in the resort city of Pattaya, which is on the east coast of Thailand.
In the clip, concerned onlookers can be heard saying 'he's tired' as the poor guy rolls around on the ground. This time of year is the hottest in Thailand, with temperatures peaking at averages of around 40 degrees.
He is dragged to his feet and continues on walking away.
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According to the Daily Mail, an unnamed tourist said: "There are many more baby elephants tied with their mother walking around with tourists at their backs enjoying under the heat of the sun while these elephants are suffering.
"This one baby elephant was so exhausted, and you can see the mother comforting and encouraging her to stand."
The tourist, who is a teacher in neighbouring country Myanmar, was taking a trip to the area with friends when she saw the incident take place.
She added: "I'm just concerned for the elephants and want to ensure their welfare is properly taken care of."
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The incident took place at Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens, where elephants perform and give rides around the grounds.
A spokesman for the park said: "All of the elephants are healthy and treated very well. If there is a problem they are treated by vets. All of the babies here are healthy."
According to reviews on TripAdvisor, the show also hosts elephant shows in which the animals play football, throw darts at balloons and dance with the trainers.
Although it is commonplace to be offered elephant rides in Thailand, tourists have been urged stop riding elephants in the country.
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Geoff Manchester from Intrepid Travel explained that many of the animals are being mistreated and tortured.
He explained that in many cases: "A female elephant will be shot, and then its baby is captured. That baby is then tortured until it's willing to submit to humans, and is then trained to do elephant riding."
The advice is to always look for genuine sanctuaries if you want to get up close to the beautiful creatures.
Topics: World News, News, Animals