Riding damages the health of an elephant because its back is definitely not made for carrying the weight of people for the entire day. Let us explain to you the anatomy of an elephant in a nutshell: The backbone of an elephant differs from that of a horse. An elephant is built to lift weight with its trunk – and not to carry people on its back. The vertebrae of the elephant’s backbone point upwards just like humans. Instead of round and smooth discs, elephants have sharp, bony protrusions that extend upwards from their spine. If people constantly sit in metal seats on the back of the elephant, the animal feels pain and its health is severely damaged. The living conditions are unfortunately not species-appropriate either: if an elephant is not needed to work for a time – whether it be in the day or at night – it is chained up for hours on end on a short chain. Even if the animal is too sick to work, it has to remain motionless in an area which is way too small. On top of that, please consider the following fact: elephants are social beings just like us. They like to spend time in herds and they have friendships with or aversions to other elephants. They are also very sensitive – they feel pain, sorrow and happiness!