12/17/2004: Elephant polo
 

http://cellar.org/2004/elephantpolo.jpg

Elephant polo! Are you kidding me?

http://cellar.org/2004/elephantpolo1.jpg

No apparently you aren't. Apparently Scotland was this year's winner of the world championships of the sport.

I would like to see live video of this... the images, it seems, would not do it justice. Is there strategy involved? Does it move fast, or lumberingly slow? Is it dangerous? The official web site is terrible!

http://cellar.org/2004/elephantpolowinners.jpg

http://cellar.org/2004/elephantpolosponsor.jpg

But it looks like they have a sense of humor about it.

Scottland? How many elephants do they have there anyway?

I thought the Alps were too cold when Hannibal went through with elephants. Isn't Scottland similar, with the highlands and higher latitudes?

I bet the elephants hate every second of it...

Dammit, I was just about to ask where PETA had been hiding...

How do we know that the elephants DON'T enjoy the game? After all, they are mammals and most mammals are known to enjoy a good game of whatever, so perhaps there are pachyderm polo fans?

It seems to me that if a multi-ton animal doesn't want to do somethig, it ain't gonna do it. And a 200 pound human would have to take extraordinary measures to force it. Especially when all the elephant would need to do is step on the offending human to eliminate the annoyance. And since I know that in standard polo, the horses have a "feel" for the game and after training can be seen anticipating their riders' commands and moving into position without rider input.

All in all, I think these elephants might be having some fun at the game too.

Brian

It IS another Chivas life experience.

I'm pretty disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing just how large a mallet you needed to whack an elephant across the scoring line...

I thought a Chivas Experience had something to do with waking up in the morning with vomit all over you, wearing someone else's underwear on your head, and not knowing why you are in jail. Or maybe that was just me.

Somehow that little velvet drawstring bag always figured in....

Have you ever heard of bullhooks and cattle prods? That what circuses and slaughterhouses use to get the critters to "move along" or put on a nice show. There's also something called negative reinforcement that "encourages" the animals to do as they're told.

These are wild animals, not dogs playing frisbee. Elephants don't play polo for "fun" in nature.

And wolves play frisbee?

Huh?

Domesticated dogs for the most part enjoy playing ball, frisbee, etc. Nobody said anything about wolves...

Canines in general like to chase things that move, regardless of the object or its size. It what they do. I once knew a spritely little yorkie who would chase cars along with the big dogs and he'd always be the one still chasing after the other dogs gave up...

I wouldn't be too surprised if a curious enough wolf went after a frisbee if it soared past its field of vision. He wouldn't make flying leaps or do any aerial acrobatics to catch it in his mouth, but he would go investigate. I wonder if any wolf researchers who've gone out and spent time with the wolves ever tried that. The biggest reason why a wolf wouldn't go after it is if it's busy doing something else and they're more likely to be busy with important things like finding lunch, shelter or a mate than a pet dog would, since the pet is most likely well fed and never has to take time to worry about catching the next meal, finding a good place to bed down or (if it's fixed) find a suitable mate.

Must be hell on the greens.

Or in fact, we really don't know what in the hell these things think, but people are always gonna put a biased spin on it aren't they

We also have no idea what relationship the players have with their mounts. If it's anything like the logging elephants and their mahouts then it is entirely possible that they are both having the time of their lives.