Mahout

A mahout (also: Mahout ) is the leader and often the owner of a working elephant. He is responsible for the care and feeding and associated for decades with the animal. A mahout riding on the neck of the elephant and directs him through verbal commands, his elephant bar and the pressure that it exerts with feet and legs on the animal.

The name comes from Hindi Mahut mahaut ( महौत ) or mahāvat ( महावत ), which goes back to Sanskrit mahāmātra ( महामात्र ) ( " of great extent "). Other names are about Sanskrit hastipaka ( हस्तिपक ), Burmese CHAN ūḥcīḥ or " oozie " ( ဆင္ ဦး စီး ), Thai khwan chang ( ควาญ ช้าง ).

Mahuts there, like the working elephants in India and Indochina (about Myanmar and Thailand). Most of forestry work are there often used elephants because they are more flexible and does not rely on the creation of roads as opposed to tractors and caterpillars in the field. Elephants cause as in forest work much less environmental damage than machines. In addition, the elephants attitude has ceremonial and tourist reasons.

Mahut and elephant work as far as possible together for decades. The necessary relationship of trust already developed during the joint work in the elephant school.

In Thailand, in 2003 there were still about 2,000 mahouts who work with their elephants in the rugged forests in northern Thailand.