After retirement, elephant in Cambodia tries to forget
An urban elephant used for tourism in Cambodia retires from the hot asphalt streets of Phnom Penh after thirty years of work.
Sambo in a pen with soft sand under her feet.
Julie Masis
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
Visitors to Cambodia鈥檚 capital may be missing a well-known icon. Sambo, the 51-year-old female elephant who has given rides to tourists for 30 years and was one of Southeast Asia鈥檚 last working urban elephants, has retired.
The elephant needed treatment for her feet, says Louise Rogerson, the chief executive officer of the Hong Kong-based Elephant Asia Rescue and Survival foundation. According to Ms. Rogerson, years of walking on hot, hard asphalt streets eventually took its toll on Sambo, who has been relocated outside the city limits.
Rogerson says Sambo鈥檚 retirement is a sign of progress for the care of elephants living in captivity. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe that elephants should be working in the city,鈥� she says.