An animal sanctuary controversially let a CrossFit gym owner do pull-ups on one of their elephant's tusks, for a video which was shared on Instagram.
The woman, named Emma Roberts, was on holiday at South Africa's Adventures with Elephants park in Mabula District when she filmed the footage.
The South African influencer was captured using the creature's tusks to pull herself into the air and back down to the floor.
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As the picture gained traction on social media, it certainly received a fiery response, with many criticising Emma for using the wild animal as a piece of gym equipment, and the facility for allowing her to do so.
"Absolutely abhorrent" one wrote. "People don't understand the horror that wild animals go through to 'perform.' Elephant spines are not meant for holding humans' weight."
Another penned: "Can't believe she did that. She doesn't have common sense and empathy. The elephant deserves to be treated with respect. Be kind to them".
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"This is horrible and breaks my heart," a third chipped in on Twitter.
Emma, who owns a CrossFit gym branch, later spoke out on the now deleted Instagram post, and defended herself, suggesting that what people saw was nothing more than her enjoying an "amazing moment with this animal".
"For the sake of this amazing facility I have opted to remove my post," she wrote on her Insta' Stories.
"I do not agree that sharing an amazing moment with this animal is cruel in any way. However, there are many humans out there who only see the negative.
"Beating elephants is cruel, riding them is not ideal, keeping them in horrible environments and killing them for their ivory is cruel."
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The RSPCA has urged people not to ride elephants when abroad, because it is cruel and can cause the animal discomfort.
They add that keeping an animal captive and forcing it to have these interactions with humans can be harmful.
"Providing them with a home in their natural environment and educating people about how intelligent and wonderful they are is not cruelty," Emma went on.
"Unfortunately only a small percentage of the world is enlightened enough to see this. Those of you who have sent me wonderful messages, thank you.
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"Those of you who have made this amazing experience for me feel like something I should be ashamed of... Shame on you."
Tyla has contacted Emma, CrossFit and Adventures For Elephants for comment.
Topics: Life News, Life, elephants, Animals