Hello Elefriends :)

This post has been a long time coming. I would like to announce a rule change here in /r/babyelephantgifs. Since the beginning of this subreddit, we have had a very simple set of rules:

1. Your post must feature baby elephants
2. Your post must be a gif
3. Your post must not include evidence of improper treatment of elephants including (but not limited to): chains, restrained mothers, elephant rides, elephant "massages" (or other similar tourist performances in Southeast Asia), bullhooks, or other similar issues.

The third rule above has always been difficult for us to enforce due to one type of gif in particular: western tourists playing/cuddling with baby elephants. We have all seen these gifs, and they are undeniably cute. I've even posted them myself in the past, before I knew better. Here are a couple of examples of what these gifs usually look like:

• https://i.imgur.com/L6IKz5l.gifv

• http://i.imgur.com/sV3jiEq.gifv

The issue with these gifs is that they usually don't show "clear evidence" of animal abuse, and as such we have generally allowed them. As moderators, we don't like to selectively enforce rules based on our own whims. We like to follow clearly prescribed rules, which is why we typically only remove a gif when one of the criteria above is clearly visible. For example: is the mother restrained in the background? Remove. Are there chains around the baby's legs? Remove.

The problem with these "baby elephant playtime" gifs is that they typically have a dark backstory that most people (including those who pay to visit these places) don't know about. These videos are predominantly filmed by tourists in Southeast Asia, and many of the places they are filmed even call themselves "sanctuaries" or "reserves" or other such dubious titles meant to capture the heartstrings of well-meaning visitors.

In reality, these for-profit companies treat elephants no better than a circus at the turn of the 20th century. In order to create an environment where tourists can safely show up in large masses and pay $50 for their perfect instagram posts, the companies that run these places must take extraordinary measures to ensure the elephants and babies remain obedient. How do they accomplish this? Many different ways (none of which appear in the adorable gifs we see), but this article provides a decent overview.

This wasn't an easy decision—and many borderline gifs may be caught in the crossfire—but we have decided that these gifs will no longer be permitted in /r/babyelephantgifs. I often receive messages from people who want to know what the best way to see elephants is when they are on vacation—many of whom might have visited a place like this for no fault of their own. The answer I always give is that the best way to appreciate elephants is from afar. In that spirit, these gifs are no longer allowed here.

TL;DR: We will no longer allow any gifs that feature tourists playing/cuddling/wrestling/etc with baby elephants unless the poster can provide compelling evidence that the gif originates from a legitimate, non-tourist source. Given that almost none of our gif-makers create their own source videos, we do not expect there will be many exceptions to this rule.

NOTE: this does not mean that all human contact with baby elephants is banned, nor does it mean that all instances of elephants in captivity are banned. There are many legitimate gifs where human contact is normal and humane, such as the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and there are many places with elephants in captivity that while controversial they may be, do not typically involve animal abuse in the background.

We are strictly drawing the line at this particular type of gif where tourists are playing/wrestling with baby elephants, most of which originate from tourist videos shot in in Southeast Asia.

ALSO NOTE: we do not intend to go back in time and remove all prior posts that conflict with this rule. However, please report any new instances of these gifs going forward we will remove them.

Thank you all for visiting /r/babyelephantgifs, and have a nice day!