Cartoon of the Day 20-11-2025: A Park’s Changing Icon

This cartoon uses a simple “then vs. now” comparison to raise a quiet but powerful question about how we treat natural spaces.

On the left, the entrance to Yala National Park features a stone sculpture of an elephant—an animal long seen as a symbol of the park’s wildlife and the reason visitors come in the first place. It represents nature, dignity, and the idea that the animals are at the heart of the park’s identity.

On the right, that symbol has changed. The elephant has been replaced by a jeep—battered, scratched, and clearly central to the modern experience. The shift is subtle but telling: what once stood for wildlife now stands for tourism, vehicles, and human activity.

The cartoon doesn’t accuse; it simply highlights a transformation.
It invites the viewer to consider whether the balance between conservation and tourism has tilted too far. When the jeep becomes the new icon, the message hints at how human presence may be overshadowing the very animals people come to see.

In a gentle way, the illustration asks:
If our focus shifts from protecting wildlife to serving tourism, what will future “icons” of nature look like?