In the village of Taro, among the cool green hills near Ubud, you will find Mason Elephant Park & Lodge. Many people simply call it the Elephant Park. In 2026, however, it is important to describe the place accurately: it is no longer an attraction built around elephant rides, but a park offering observation, care and carefully managed encounters whose rules have changed in recent years.
The park’s history began in 1997. According to Mason Adventures, it was created as a home for Sumatran elephants brought not directly from the wild but from government holding camps in Sumatra. Those camps developed during a period when deforestation, conflict between people and elephants and poaching were destroying the animals’ natural habitat. The park states that its elephants were rescued from this system rather than captured in the forest.
Moving the elephants to Bali was a difficult operation. The animals travelled by truck and ferry, and the park says the total distance was more than 1,700 kilometres. Taro was chosen for a reason: it is higher, cooler and wetter than the coast, with abundant vegetation and conditions that resemble the elephants’ Sumatran forest home. Bali is not the natural range of these animals, so it is more accurate to call them relocated and rescued Sumatran elephants rather than Balinese elephants.
Who lives in the park today
The Sumatran elephant is a distinct subspecies of the Asian elephant that has suffered from the loss of forests and available territory. Mason describes its work as long-term care for a rescued herd. The park’s website says that six elephant calves have been born there; the names of the elephants and their carers are published in its section about the park’s values and history.
The same page describes individual diets, regular veterinary checks, the work of mahouts and the need to consider each animal’s age, weight, sex and digestion. This is an important detail: an elephant is not a large domestic pet that visitors can feed with anything or hug whenever they want. Its health depends on routine, space, water, social contact with other elephants and professional care.
What changed in 2026
The main change concerns riding. In 2025, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation issued a circular calling for elephant-riding demonstrations to end at animal-keeping institutions. On 25 January 2026, Bali’s conservation authority announced that Mason Elephant Park had officially stopped all elephant-riding activities, for tourists and for other commercial purposes.
For that reason, the old version of this article, which promised visitors the chance to ride elephants, is no longer accurate. This service should not be advertised or promised to other travellers. The park’s current official website lists general admission, supervised feeding, a guided walk alongside an elephant, washing programmes, a picnic and an evening tour. Activities and conditions can change, so check the current description and book through the official website before travelling.
For me, this creates a useful ethical boundary: getting close to an animal does not mean sitting on its back. Watching an elephant move at its own pace, listening to an educational talk, seeing how carers work and keeping a respectful distance can be more interesting and more respectful than asking an animal to perform.
What you can see at Mason Elephant Park
The park’s official website currently lists the following areas and activities as part of the general visit: supervised elephant feeding, a treetop observation walk, free-roaming elephant viewing, an elephant museum and information centre, botanical and orchid gardens, lake viewing, a baby elephant nursery, educational talks and an art gallery.
Different programmes suit different kinds of visitors. During the Elephant Wellness Walk, guests prepare nutritious treats and walk through the park alongside one elephant. The Jumbo Wash and Wash & Bathe programmes invite visitors to wash and scrub an animal in a designated area. The park also advertises a daytime park tour, a fruit picnic and a sunset visit. These are commercial products, so confirm the details, age limits, meals, transfers and available dates when booking.
How to think about animal welfare
Mason Elephant Park says that it has received Gold Certification from Asian Captive Elephants Standards and that its work follows the “Five Freedoms”: freedom from hunger and thirst, discomfort, pain and disease, inability to express normal behaviour, and fear. This is the park’s own stated standard, so visitors should treat it as a claim to examine rather than a reason to stop asking questions.
A positive change is the end of elephant riding after the government requirement. When visiting, choose formats where the animal can move at its own pace, is not forced into a show and is not exposed to a constant stream of human contact. Do not feed an elephant your own food, touch it without a carer’s permission, shout, provoke it for a photograph or ignore staff instructions.
Elephants may look friendly and often interact willingly with people, but that does not make them toys. Even a calm animal is powerful and unpredictable. Adults should watch children, stay behind barriers and step away if an elephant shows irritation or wants to end the interaction.
Location and planning your visit
Mason Elephant Park & Lodge is at Jalan Elephant Safari Park, Banjar Desa Taro Tegallalang, Taro, Gianyar, Bali 80561. The official website currently lists opening hours of 8 am to 6 pm. The park is outside central Ubud, so allow time for the journey: travel duration depends on where you stay and on Bali traffic.
General admission, a programme with transfers and a stay at the lodge are different products. The old article blurred these options, which could make it seem as if every ticket included every activity. Check the live booking page for what is included, and do not rely on old photographs or descriptions that show elephant riding.
Why visit
The park is worth visiting not for a checklist or for recreating an old photograph, but to learn how much food, water, veterinary care, social contact and space rescued elephants need every day. You can see the gardens, listen to educational information and observe the relationship between the animals and their carers.
Mason says that it works with local villages, buys large amounts of food and uses organic waste in gardens and agriculture. These are statements from the park and should be read in that context, but they show that caring for a herd involves more than selling a ticket: it also involves staff, local suppliers and a long-term responsibility.
In 2026, the honest description of Mason Elephant Park is simple: it is a park for rescued Sumatran elephants with observation, care and controlled-contact programmes, where elephant riding no longer takes place.
Sources: Mason Elephant Park & Lodge — official site and activities; Mason Elephant Park — values, history and care; Bali Natural Resources Conservation Agency — elephant riding ended, 25 January 2026; ANTARA — monitoring the decision to end elephant riding.
