Elephant Riding Is Officially Banned in Indonesia

(SPOT.ph) If you’re headed to Indonesia anytime soon, don’t be surprised to find all those tour packages on elephant riding have vanished, as government authorities move to enforce a strict nationwide ban.

For years, elephant rides were legally allowed in Indonesia through conservation permits, with Bali-based operators often insisting the activity was ethical.

That has now changed. Elephant rides and other close-contact attractions are no longer legally available anywhere in the country. Instead, operators are being encouraged to shift toward non-contact experiences that allow elephants to roam, forage, and interact naturally, with tourists observing from a distance. Operators that fail to comply risk losing their permits—and, in effect, are forced to shut down.

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The policy comes from Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, which in Circular Letter No. 6 of 2025 instructed conservation agencies to stop allowing elephant rides and similar close-contact attractions. Although the instruction has been in place for over a year, enforcement only ramped up now as conservation permits came up for review.

Bali Zoo confirmed it stopped the activity starting January 1, 2026, while Mason Elephant Park & Lodge followed later after receiving multiple warnings from authorities, as reported by South China Morning Post.

The policy follows years of scrutiny around elephant tourism across Southeast Asia, with repeated concerns raised about training methods, physical strain from carrying riders, and prolonged chaining.

“Elephant riding is widely recognised by animal welfare scientists and experts as harmful. It often involves painful and stressful training methods to force elephants to accept riders, restricts their natural behaviour, and can cause long‑term physical and psychological damage,” World Animal Protection said in a statement. “Ending elephant rides removes the need for these harmful practices and allows elephants to spend more time on natural behaviours such as socialising, grazing and bathing.”

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