# @robbie_lockie on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DZesByQFa4y
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/66620963-robbie-lockie-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/85bf88ea92.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-06-12T08:52:01.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Robbie Lockie | Creative Technologist (@robbie_lockie) — https://gondola.cc/robbie_lockie

## Caption

The rides are ending. It took years of quiet, stubborn work to get here.

I've spent years watching campaigns chip away at elephant riding, so this story out of Nepal stopped me mid-scroll here in Bali.

For decades, Chitwan National Park was the elephant safari capital of Nepal. At peak, around 90 elephants lined up every morning in Sauraha to carry tourists into the park. That number has now halved. The United Elephant Safari Cooperative once managed 60+ elephants. Today it runs 30.

It's tempting to say "tourists did it." They mattered. European and American visitors largely stopped booking rides, and operators listened.

But that demand shift was built on years of campaigning by people and organisations who did the hard, unglamorous groundwork:

→ animal_nepal, whose 2012 welfare study first put hard evidence behind what everyone could see.
→ tiger_tops, who proved a chain-free, ride-free model could work and stay in business.
→ elephantaidinternational and founder Carol Buckley, who pioneered solar-powered chain-free corrals freeing dozens of elephants around Chitwan since 2014.
→ world_animal_protection and janegoodallinst, whose 2018 viability study showed Sauraha could go ride-free and stay profitable.
→ animalrightsclubnepal and peta, who spent six-plus years campaigning against abuse at the Chitwan Elephant Festival.

Sauraha is now shifting to elephant bush walks — you move through the grasslands at the elephant's side instead of on its back. The walk costs MORE than the ride did, and guests happily pay it. Kindness is the premium product now.

This is what change looks like. Not one viral moment. Years of evidence, alternatives and pressure, until demand caught up and the industry followed.

What you can do:
Never ride an elephant, anywhere, ever.
Book walks, observation and bathing-watch experiences instead.
Ask your operator for chain-free, no-contact options.
Tell them WHY. Operators track demand.

Support the groups above. They did the slow work that made the fast shift possible.

Your booking is your ballot.

#ElephantTourism #AnimalWelfare #EndElephantRiding #ChitwanNationalPark #Nepal #EthicalTravel #WildlifeNotEntertainment

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 171
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## Tags

chitwannationalpark, wildlifenotentertainment, endelephantriding, elephanttourism, animalwelfare, nepal, ethicaltravel

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