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Elephant Rides Are Now Banned at Cambodia's Angkor Wat

November 19, 2019

Cambodia's most famous tourist attraction will ban elephant rides beginning next year.

After pressure from animal rights groups, Angkor Archaeological Park announced it would ban elephant rides in early 2020.

To start the process, two of the 14 elephants that lived and worked at Angkor were moved to the nearby Bos Tham forest last week, according to the Khmer Times.

The remaining elephants would be relocated to the same forest by "early next year."

"The elephant is a big animal, but it is also gentle and we don't want to see the animals being used for tourism activities anymore," Long Kosal, a spokesperson for the park's management company, said. "We want them to live in their natural surroundings."