With kind permission from World Animal Protection, I'm pleased to share our top recommendations for ensuring that your incredible wildlife moments are great not just for you, but for the animals you encounter along the way.
Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between wildlife experiences which are ethical and those which are not. Greenwashing in tourism is a serious issue, making it hard for us to do the right thing. Most visitors to wildlife attractions, love animals. They are families, solo travellers, explorers & adventurers, making the most of their trips abroad to witness some of the most amazing creatures in the world. Unfortunately, because many tourists unknowingly visit unethical attractions or experiences, they are inadvertently driving demand for it.
Over recent years we have seen many unethical attractions rebrand themselves as 'sanctuaries', 'rescuing animals' and cover over or hide cruelty that is happening, this is known as Greenwashing. There are still some large tour operators who sell and therefore legitimise attractions which are unethical. This makes doing the right thing even harder. How many times on holiday have you been approached to have a photo taken with a wild animal, or to to see wild animals perform in shows? You may have been offered souvenirs made from wild animal skins, shells or bones. This can drive the illegal animal trade.
World Animal Protection have been doing loads of great work to inform and educate people about ethical wildlife experiences, so I wanted to share their recommendations with you.
The Five Freedoms
How do you know if an attraction or activity can harm an animal? World Animal Protection uses the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare as the test. These freedoms are a minimum standard.
1. Freedom from hunger or thirst:
Do the animals have ready access to appropriate food and clean water? Many wild animals used to entertain tourists and forced to work for long hours with limited access to food and water. The suffer from heat stress, exhaustion and dehydration. Some animals are forced to perform tricks for food (e.g. dolphins at marine shows).
2. Freedom from discomfort:
Do the animals have shelter and an adequate place to rest? They must be able to stand and lie down comfortably and have shelter. Wild animals used to entertain tourists are often chained and kept on uncomfortable hard floors or in full sun. I've sadly witnessed elephants kept in horrible conditions for tourists to view them.
3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease:
Do the animals appear to be injured or in pain? Many wild animals suffer from poor nutrition, lack of veterinary care and injuries as a result of being chained, trained and kept in uncomfortable cages. Some have their jaws tied shut, teeth pulled or claws clipped so they are safer to handle.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour:
Can the animals behave and move naturally, as they would in the wild? Are they kept in natural social groups? Captive animals are often kept in small cages that don't resemble their natural habitat. They get bored & frustrated when they can't express normal behaviour.
5. Freedom from fear or distress:
Do you see that the animals are scared? Are they biting the bars of their cages, pacing back and forth or showing signs of poor mental health? Captive wild animals suffer from fear, distress and psychological trauma caused by close confinement, inadequate conditions and cruel training methods.
If the Five Freedoms are not being met, this is an indication that the animals are suffering & the attraction and activity is cruel. When wild animals are kept in distressing situations, it may result in dangerous behaviour to the tourist and their handlers. Some examples are the deeply disturbing Netflix documentary Blackfish, which shared the strife of an Orca in captivity who killed a trainer (BBC, 2016), or the recent injury caused by a captive elephant carrying tourists to the Amer Fort in India (WAP, 2024).
Some Do's & Don'ts
Don't hold wild animals for selfies.
Do take lots of photos of wild animals from a safe and respectful distance.
Don't watch animals perform tricks.
Do watch animals in the wild, behaving as they would naturally.
Don't ride an elephant.
Do watch elephants grazing with their herd in the wild, or a genuine sanctuary.
Don't swim with dolphins.
Do see them in the wild from a safe and respectful distance, with a responsible dolphin-watch company.
Don't buy souvenirs made from wild animals.
Do buy local souvenirs & give back to the local community.
Don't touch or feed wild animals.
Do give them plenty of space, take pictures and enjoy being able to share our planet with them.
Sanctuary Checklist
A great sanctuary:
Does not breed animals unless they are being released into the wild.
Does not engage in the commercial trade of animals of animal parts.
Does not force animals to perform unnatural acts (like rides, shows & tricks) to to interact with people, but instead lets the animals behave naturally.
Discourages the keeping of wild animals as pets and for entertainment.
Does not take in more animals than it can take care of humanely.
What you can do to help
You can protect animals on your holiday by being informed of the impact of your travel decisions and avoiding cruel interactions. You can be an animal-friendly traveller by following these simple steps:
Do your research & consider the animals. Find out if animal encounters are offered at your hotel or on your tour. Use the World Animal Protection guide and checklist to assess whether there may be animal cruelty before you book. Ask questions.
Think before you buy. Consider that some locally bought souvenirs may come from wild animal skins, shells and bones. Whether the animal is endangered or not, the souvenir may have involved animal cruelty and can drive demand for the illegal wildlife trade.
Only book with travel companies that have committed to protecting animal welfare. Check to see if your travel company or tour operator has an animal welfare policy. If they do, then they have done the research for you. As a tourist you have the power to demand change for wild animals.
Ask your travel company or guide to take the pledge to only offer animal-friendly experiences. By asking your tour company to only promote and sell ethical experiences, you will be driving the right kind of demand and demonstrating that travellers want cruelty-free experiences.
Join the movement and help keep wildlife in the wild and end cruel wildlife entertainment. Increased demand for wildlife selfies, elephant rides and other cruel tourist activities means animals continue to suffer for entertainment. Tourists have significant power to help stop this cruelty. Supporters like you helped to convince TripAdvisor to stop selling cruel wildlife attractions, recently Jet2 stopped the sale of marine parks, an amazing step forward. To help grow the movement visit worldanimalprotection.org.uk
As a nation of animal lovers, it should be easy for us to find factual information and advice about how to experience wildlife responsibly and thankfully there are loads of great resources to help us.
Learn more at worldanimalprotection.org.uk
You can view my Animal Welfare Policy here
Thank you
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