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Elephant polo is a variant of polo played whilst riding elephants. It is played in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Equipment consists of a standard polo ball and six to nine foot bamboo sticks with a polo mallet on the end. The pitch is three-quarters of the length of a standard polo pitch, due to the slower speed of the elephants. Two people ride each elephant; the elephants are steered by mahouts, while the player tells the mahout which way to go and hits the ball. Playing polo Polo (also known as Cho-gan) is a team game played on a field with one goal for each team. ...
Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas recki †Stegodon †Mammuthus †Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of animals, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea. ...
A mahout is a person who drives an elephant. ...
Although elephant polo was first played in India at the beginning of the twentieth century, the modern game originated in Meghauly, Nepal, reportedly after a drinking bout.
As of December 2005, Scotland's national team, captained by the Duke of Argyll, is the reigning champion of the World Elephant Polo Association, despite the notable lack of indigenous elephants in the entire United Kingdom. 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Scotland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...
Torquhil Ian Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll (born 29 May 1968) is a Scottish peer; he is also the 6th Duke of Argyll in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. ...
The World Elephant Polo Association (WEPA) was formed in 1982 at Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in the Royal Chitwan National Park in south west Nepal . The first games were played on a grass airfield in Meghauly which is located just on the edge of the National Park. The co-founders, James Manclark, a Scottish landowner and former Olympic tobogganer and Jim Edwards, owner of Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge and Chairman of the Tiger Mountain Group, came up with the idea in a bar in St. Moritz , Switzerland , where they are both members of the Cresta Club.
Elephant polo was first played in India around the turn of the 20th century, by members of the British aristocracy. WEPA is the first and paramount organization in modern times to host the sport. The first games were played with a soccer ball, but after finding that the elephants like to smash the balls, the soccer ball was replaced with a standard polo ball. The sticks are made of bamboo and have a standard polo mallet on the end. The length of the stick depends on the size of the elephant - anywhere from 5 to 12 feet.
The rules of the game are similar to horse polo, but the pitch is 3/4 length (because of the slower speed of the elephants) and there are some necessary additions - for instance, it is a penalty for an elephant to lie down in front of the goal line. Players are secured in rope harnesses, with a rope across their thighs and rope stirrups. The game will stop if a player's harness becomes too loose and there is a danger of the player falling off. Players have fallen off elephants only a few times in WEPA's 20-year history.
The primary difference between horse and elephant polo, besides the substitution of an elephant for a horse, is that the elephants are "driven" by their trainers, called "mahouts." The mahouts have generally worked with the elephant for many years and the elephants respond quickly to the mahouts signals and commands. The mahouts communicates with the elephant with verbal commands and by applying pressure to the back of the elephant's ears with their feet. The player's responsibility is to let the mahout know where to go, how fast, when to stop, etc. Most of the mahouts and all of the elephants only understand Nepali, so the communication is difficult at times. The professional players tend to learn some basics Nepali to help with the communication on the pitch.
The WEPA tournament has been hosted by Tiger Tops at Meghauly each December since 1982. It is an invitational event and has in the past included teams representing a wide variety of countries and sponsors.
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