Victory! Rustic Pathways Drops Cruel Elephant Encounters Following PETA Plea

For Immediate Release:
September 26, 2025

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

After hearing from PETA—and more than 35,000 of its members and supporters—that elephants endure abusive training methods and are under constant threat of punishment during “bathing” photo ops with visitors, locally based and leading student travel company Rustic Pathways has confirmed that it has removed elephant bathing from its tour offerings. The company joins dozens of other travel leaders—including Airbnb, Booking.com, Costco Travel, Expedia Group, and Royal Caribbean—that have agreed not to include the cruel experiences in their itineraries.

Elephants are highly social animals who live in matriarchal herds, protect one another, and enjoy playing and foraging for fresh vegetation. But those used for tourism are forcibly separated from their mothers as babies, immobilized with tightly bound ropes, and gouged with nail-studded sticks or other sharp objects to “break” them. As adults, as this PETA video shows, they’re kept chained and constantly threatened with bullhooks—weapons that resemble a fireplace poker with a sharp hook on one end—to force them to obey out of fear of punishment. 

“Rustic Pathways’ compassionate decision appeals to the growing number of young people seeking ethical travel experiences that let elephants and all animals live in peace,” says PETA President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges other travel companies to follow Rustic Pathways’ lead and reminds travelers to avoid any company that treats elephants as photo props.”

Elephant encounters are also extremely dangerous and can lead to human injuries or even death, including in January, when a Spanish tourist died while bathing with an elephant in Thailand. And last year, a tourist suffered a fractured leg after being flung into the air by an elephant in India. PETA urges everyone to help elephants by refusing to ride them or visit places where they’re forced to perform.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.