THE ASIAN ELEPHANTS-DRIVER PARTNERSHIP - THE DRIVERS PERSPECTIVE

Elephant drivers, sometimes termed mahouts, are known to share a relat ionship with their elephants rarely matched in other human-animal inte ractions with regard to time invested, extent of cooperative activity, and everpresent risk to the driver. An investigation of this relation ship was pursued at two tourist lodges in Nepal where elephants are us ed to transport tourists into a nearby jungle to view wildlife. The st udy sought to investigate the drivers' perceptions regarding the indiv idual and social behavior of the elephants, the perceptions of the ele phants, and the elephants' interactions with drivers. Standardized ope n-ended questions were administered with translator assistance to 17 h ead drivers of elephants. Drivers attributed their management success to the time and care they invested in caring for and becoming familiar with the elephant. Drivers worked in partnership with elephants to ga ther and prepare the elephants' food. Elephants responded to vocal com mands of drivers for saddling. Drivers also took responsibility for el ephants in their varied interactions with tourists. Although drivers v aried in specifying the most desirable elephant at their lodge, they h ighly agreed on the identity of the worst elephant because of its aggr essivity. In general, drivers believed that their elephants loved and trusted them. Most drivers reported that their elephants did not get a ngry with them. Yet, they knew that elephants would most like to be fr ee in the jungle. Drivers presented consistent information as to the e lephants' social preferences for and dislikes of one another.