A three-day international elephant festival began Monday in Nepal in Suraha, in the south-western district of Chitwan. Animal rights activists, however, are not pleased with the move, saying it promotes cruelty and inhumane treatment of animals. “I am Nepalese and I find it disgusting and abhorrent that we still do this kind of thing,” said animal advocate Nevine Pratihi via telephone. She added to Bikyamasr.com that “what are we going to tell our children when we want to stop cruelty? It is hard with this sort of thing happening. The first event was an elephant race, where the animals thundered down a 200-metre track in the Baghmara forest. Twelve of the 20 participating elephants qualified for the semifinal. The eighth annual festival, which was held 154 kilometers from the capital Kathmandu, was organized by the regional hotel association of Chitwan and the government to promote tourism and the Chitwan National Park. On Monday, the first round of a football match for baby elephants was also held. Elephants were to participate in a “beauty pageant” on Tuesday. Other events were to include a bullock cart race and horse cart race. “I hate this and will do all I can to stop it from happening,” Pratihi added. BM and dpa ShortURL: http://goo.gl/yZFMH Tags: Animal Abuse, Elephant Festival, Nepal Section: Animals, East Asia