If seeing wildlife is on your itinerary for your upcoming spring break travels, particularly for destinations that offer organized animal attractions such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia, I urge you to cross elephant riding and other activities that exploite animals off your to-do lists. As global travellers, we have the responsibility to educate ourselves about the local environments and cultures we are visiting and consider the consequences of the activities in which we choose to engage.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species identifies the Asian Elephant and Indian Python as endangered. Capturing these animals from the wild, while illegal in Sri Lanka, is still common practice to attract tourists and gain social status. Once in captivity, these animals undergo ritual cruelty. According to PETA, snake charmers defang snakes without painkillers; often sewing their mouths almost entirely shut, while piercing their venom ducts with a hot needle to prevent attacks. The Indian Wildlife Act of 1972 banned snake charming because of its violence — snakes are not dancing or being charmed but rather exhibiting a fearful reaction to the threat of an attack by the pipe.

The methods of beating elephants into submission are no more kind: these include tortuous physical abuse, restrictive chains and deprivation of social contact with other animals. On the surface, riding an elephant is romantic, exotic and adventurous. I used these superficial preconceptions as well as the consolation that elephants seemed to be shrieking pleasurably as tourists offered them watermelon and whole bananas during their rides to justify riding an elephant in Sri Lanka last fall.

I have since become aware of the extreme abuse elephants undergo to learn how to accept riders. If I had seen the many videos online of elephants suffering from bullhooks or electric prods, I would have never thought about climbing with five friends onto a Howdah, the chair for riders that is attached to the elephant’s back. Not only are elephants’ spines unable to endure huge amounts of weight for hours a day, but the chair rubs their backs and causes blisters that are open to infection. Imagine carrying your semester’s books on your back all day as you march from Sama Tower to DTC under the sun’s trenchant rays.

The training that elephants undergo to become a part of the tourism industry includes the crush, or Phajaan. This process involves taking them from their mothers at young ages, keeping them in small cages or cells, and then beating them with bullhooks and spiked bamboo sticks in addition to starving them and depriving them of sleep in order to crush their spirits so they are submissive to their human masters. These rituals of abuse are common; they are not the exception. If a tourist outfit offers anything more than spending time with the elephant, such as riding, painting or circuses, the elephants have suffered the crush.

In the wild, elephants roam over 100 square kilometers a day, but the conditions of their trekking in confinement cause debilitating food conditions. Like humans, elephants establish life-long bonds. Elephants are social animals and live in close family groups called herds in the wild. At the trekking camps, however, they live in essentially solitary confinement. In Sri Lanka, zoos, Buddhist temples that parade captured elephants, and elephant orphanages such as the popular Pinnawala all employ these torturous methods to force elephants into the labor market. Pinnawala is a state-run facility with about 90 elephants that does not provide enough food, clean drinking water, shade or walking area for the elephants, and almost all of the animals have wounds on their legs from chains and the ankus, an elephant goad with a sharp metal spike and/or hook that trainers use to control elephant behavior. Enjoy the local wildlife and animal population through humane sanctuaries. The Elephant Nature Park or Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary in Northern Thailand are good choices, while Udawalawa, Wasgamuwa, Minneriya and Kaudulla are some national parks in Sri Lanka where tourists can watch elephants bathing, playing with their calves and playing with each other. But remember to respect the animals’ space.

The straightforward truth is that acts that showcase wild animals are inhumane. Animals have no choice to be involved in these performances — they are beaten or mutilated until they comply. On the other hand, we have a choice. No tourist should contribute to an animal’s suffering for a few minutes of pleasure or a new profile picture. Remember that your financial and verbal support of these acts and the people that promulgate them encourage the industry. And, in keeping with your conscious practices, I also hope you consider buying local foods, beverages and goods — fresh, super sweet king coconut water is available everywhere in Sri Lanka, as is a popular soda called Elephant House that, as far as I am aware, has nothing to do with bullhooks or Howdahs.