yes they are owned by the monks/temples we arranged them to provide the elephants as transport to our wedding.

The elephants are reasonably cared for, but like anything you chain any animal up and its not going to be good for it.

i heard that the orange men are not very well liked and not to be trusted this is a polite version of what i was told

If you are talking about the elephants that you see walking along the road between Calangute and Candolim, I have witnessed them being ill treated by there owners. I wouldn't give them any of my money.

Was advised by numerous taxi drivers not to give these guys any money as the elephants are ill treated, they are made to walk on the scorching roads for hours on end which burns the pads of their feet, they are rarely given any shade and generally just get to munch on whatever foliage is at the side of the road instead of a proper diet of bamboo etc.

On the beach we kept seeing a poor monkey on a bit of rope with two young indian lads, they were offering tourists the chance to hold it and take a picture in exchange for rupees. I was horrified at the amount of people doing this, it never seemed to enter their heads the monkey was drugged or had had its teeth pulled out, we and another aussie couple in front of us refused to take part in this and the guys became quite aggressive stating they were just trying to make a living and almost forcing the monkey on my lap. By giving these people money you are surely endorsing what they are doing. It was just awful to see the poor thing being handed around like a doll.

Anyway...rant over!! Sorry Shirley!

You are so right not to give money. Have a look at this site:

http://www.iar.org.uk/india/goa.shtml

If you can click on 'Goa' they do have some info about all this and what to do. They would like us all to telephone them if we see mal-treatment of animals like the elephant etc.

I suspected the elephants may not be treated well and it seems I may have been right, such a shame for those beautiful creatures.

I am in total agreement with all the above, however if you want to see some elephants that are very well cared for, you must go on Jungle Book.

Up in the village of Shanti, these elephants are very well cared for.

I had the pleaseure of seeing 'Dumbo' when he was just 6 days old.

Jungle book is an absolute must for us everytime we visit Goa, excellent food, information and just the most riveting experience to be so near to these wonderful creatures.