• Two baby elephants play at the training centre (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
    Two baby elephants play at the training centre (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
  • An elephant trainer, or ‘Mahot’, works with a baby elephant. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
    An elephant trainer, or ‘Mahot’, works with a baby elephant. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
  • A trainer rides an elephant as it snacks at the centre in Aceh. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
    A trainer rides an elephant as it snacks at the centre in Aceh. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
  • A trainer, or ‘Mahot’, pets a young elephant at the training centre. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
    A trainer, or ‘Mahot’, pets a young elephant at the training centre. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
  • The watery eye of an elephant at the centre. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)
    The watery eye of an elephant at the centre. (Hotli Simanjuntak / EPA / March 7, 2014)

In pictures: Elephant training in Aceh, Indonesia


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The elephant training centre in Saree village, known as PLG-Saree, was set up in 1994 as a place to train tame elephants. It was previously used by rangers who guard the forest against poachers and illegal loggers who hunt wild animals from the protected forest.