The whole premise of this article is wrong since a mahout, who is the “elephant rider”, certainly directs the elephant to carry passengers to a certain place, move construction materials or timber, or do whatever it is directed to do. The mahout begins training an individual elephant when it is a juvenile, cares for it, and stays with it for its entire life. The idea that the mahout is not in control of the elephant is patently false, since that is their profession. Of course someone who is not a particular elephant’s mahout can’t get it to do shit.