Mumbai, Sept. 22: As the world prepares to mark World Tourism Day on 27 September, Humane World for Animals India (formerly called Humane Society International/India) is urging tourists to choose animal-friendly experiences while travelling and avoid attractions and activities that profit from animal suffering. From riding elephants and taking selfies with wild animals to watching animal performances, many popular tourist experiences can have serious consequences for the animals involved. The organization has shared practical tips to help travellers make more compassionate choices and ensure their holiday memories don’t come at an animal’s expense.
“Travelers may think of these as a memorable experiences but it becomes lifetime of suffering for animals involved,” says Sumanth Bindumadhav, director, wildlife, at Humane World for Animals India. “Captive wild animals are all too often forced into a life of stressful travel and public interactions used to generate revenue under the banner of entertainment, education, conservation or rescue. Public demand for these encounters drives a business that includes the capture, breeding and trade of wild animals while placing them under significant stress day after day, often with little to no opportunity to express their natural behaviors. Wild animals are meant to be in the wild. This business has a dangerous track record for both people and animals.”
Humane World for Animals India offers practical tips for more humane travel:
1. Choose animal-free entertainment
Around the world, animals are used to entertain audiences in circuses and fairs. Animals may be trained or forced to perform unnatural tricks, appear on stage or participate in shows and demonstrations. Some have been taken from the wild or separated from their mothers at a young age, and many endure inadequate housing, little veterinary attention and few opportunities to exercise or express natural behaviors.
The public can help reduce the demand for this cruelty by choosing not to attend any business that features wild animals.
2. Avoid close contact with wildlife
Close encounters with wild animals—including washing, grooming, petting, riding, swimming with or feeding them—can come at a significant cost to the animals involved. Elephants may be forced to carry tourists for long periods. Dolphins and other marine mammals may be confined for swimming and close-contact experiences, while big cats may be bred or conditioned to tolerate interactions with people. These animals can suffer from inadequate care, physical abuse, overwork and the stress of being handled or restrained.
Close contact can also put animals and people at risk. Wild animals can react unpredictably when stressed or threatened, and serious incidents can have fatal consequences. Travelers can help by choosing wildlife experiences that allow animals to remain at a natural distance.
3. Don’t pose with animals or treat them as props
In some destinations, wild animals are brought to restaurants, hotels and other tourist attractions for visitors to pose with and photograph. Cute monkeys, young lions, colorful parrots and other animals may be displayed or passed around for photos, often subjected to repeated handling and inadequate food, water, shelter and veterinary care. Some may be sedated or confined to small cages and abandoned when they become sick, too old, or less appealing to tourists. Others may have their teeth or claws removed to make them safer to handle.
The public can help by refusing to take photos with wild animals and voicing concerns to restaurant owners, tour guides and appropriate officials.
4. Choose souvenirs that don’t harm animals
Animal products sold as souvenirs are part of a global trade that threatens wild animal populations, causes animal suffering and damages ecosystems. Unfortunately, travelers may unknowingly contribute to these impacts by purchasing products made from animal parts.
Before purchasing souvenirs, consider whether they contain animal products such as ivory, bone, shell, fur, wild animal leather or coral. If there is uncertainty about whether a souvenir contains animal parts, even if a seller says it does not, the safest choice is not to buy it.
5. Consider not engaging with animals or sharing viral “cute” animal tourism trend videos
The impact of a wild animal encounter can extend far beyond the moment or the destination. Photos and videos of people holding, touching or posing with wild animals posted on social media can make these interactions mistakenly appear harmless and increase public demand for close encounters and even wild animals as pets.
Avoid liking, sharing or amplifying photos and videos on social media that show people handling wildlife, and report content that depicts animal exploitation or mistreatment.
Bindumadhav continues, “By making thoughtful choices, travelers can help reduce demand for wildlife exploitation, save animal lives and support a more humane approach to tourism.”
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