Surat Thani, THAILAND –  In the wild, elephants don’t balance on stools, perform headstands or play football. They live together, in family herds.

But in the elephant riding tourism industry, baby elephants’ lives begin by being ripped away from their mothers. They live out their next 3-9 days of life in a cage where standing is scarcely achievable. In this time, they are starved, sleep-deprived and beaten with bullhooks until they subdue to their abusers.