Are You Accidentally Inflicting Animal Cruelty On YourVacation?

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Have you ever inflicted animal cruelty? Your first instinct is probably to say “never”.You may even be offended by the question.

After all you’re a good person. You love animals. But it’s that love and desire tointeract with animals that can unintentionally hurt them, especially when traveling.

Read on For 7 Ways That Travellers Unintentionally Commit Animal Cruelty

1)Tiger Selfies – Or a Selfie With Any Type of Animal That You’d be Afraid to Encounter in theWild

By Okras (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Imagine that you are walking alone in the dense jungle of India. You hear a branch snap. Then a low guttural growl.You freeze. The noise stops. You silently take a step forward. Your heart is pounding so hard you think it may jump outof your chest. The hair on your arms is standing straight up. That’s a natural reaction if you think you’re being stalkedby a tiger.

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What’s not natural is to hug a tame tiger who’s on a short chain. The only reason it isn’t tearing into you with its 3 inchlong canines is that it’s on drugs. Furthermore, if a tiger or any animal has to be on a leash, it’s to prevent them fromescaping – i.e. they’re not there voluntarily. It’s a sign of animal cruelty.

The infamous Tiger Temple in Thailand made international headlines when 40 dead tiger cubs were discovered in thefreezer. In addition to the mistreatment and cruelty to tigers, they were closed down due to illegal wildlife trafficking andthe trafficking of tiger parts. You can read more about it here. While it’s the most famous, it’s unfortunately not uniquein its animal cruelty. There are approximately 200 tiger farms in Asia.

Tiger farms have nothing to do with conservation—they just bring extreme suffering to thesewild animals while living in appalling conditions,” Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach, a senior wildlifeadvisor at World Animal Protection.

Furthermore, a study by WWF-UK reveals 76% of respondents weren’t aware of tiger farm practices in Asia, whichare fuelling the illegal wildlife trade and jeopardizing the recovery of wild tigers across the continent. However, uponlearning about tiger farms, 86% want to see these facilities closed urgently.

Most travelers aren’t bad people (well excluding the above 14%). They’re uninformed. Tiger farms are notorious forgreenwashing tourists with false conservation claims to justify their existence. These tiger farms are huge touristattractions. They’re run as a business. Without tourists, they wouldn’t exist. By visiting one you’re inflicting animalcruelty on the individuals and you’re also contributing to the demise of a highly endangered species.

2. Riding an Elephant

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When I lived in Thailand 20 years ago I rode an elephant. Back then it wasn’t considered as a form of animal cruelty. Iremember asking the Mahout (a person who rides with and tends to the elephants) whether it was good for theelephants and assured me that they enjoyed it. He also said the bullhook they used didn’t hurt the elephants becausethey had such thick skin. His explanation didn’t sit well with me even back then but I stupidly ignored my gut.

Tourists may think activities like riding an elephant do no harm,” he told The Dodo. “But thebrutal truth is that breaking these animals’ spirits to the point that they allow humans to interactwith them involves cruelty at every turn.” Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach senior wildlife andveterinary adviser at World Animal Protection.

While the elephants may seem to be in good shape, they’ve been broken since the time they were babies. They’retaken from their mothers when they’re very young and kept in physical restraints. Food and water are withheld until theanimal does what the trainer forces it to do.

But the animal cruelty doesn’t end there. The elephants are frequently kept in chains, and unable to interact with each

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other. It’s devasting for such a social animal.

The physical and physiological damage done to elephants so that tourists can ride them is awful. Many elephants dieof stress and exhaustion of hauling so many tourists each day for long hours. The owners of such places see dollarsigns in their eyes choosing not to see the obvious animal cruelty that they’re inflicting.

3. Walking with Lions or Cuddling Lion Cubs

Walking with lions By Quadtripplea (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

Similar to how you’d feel to encountering a tiger in the wild, you’d probably feel goosebumps when meeting a lion inthe wild.

Lion walking is a relatively new tourist attraction taking place mainly in South Africa .

The cubs are taken from their mothers when they’re very young and tourists pay to hold lion cubs in the name ofconservation. When they’re older they’re trained to walk with tourists in the name of rehabilitation and reintroduction. In reality, it’s not possible to reintroduce lions into the wild who’ve spent so much time with people. At best, the lionsface a brutal life in captivity kept in too small cages. At worst, they’ll be sold to a canned hunting farm where they’refamiliarity with people makes them an easy target.

In reality, it’s not possible to reintroduce lions into the wild who’ve spent so much time with people. At best, the lionsface a brutal life in captivity kept in too small cages. At worst, they’ll be sold to a canned hunting farm where they’refamiliarity with people makes them an easy target.

They’re (the lions) kept in miserable, squalid conditions until they’re sold as living targets to atrophy hunter. So any tourist who pays to walk with lions is contributing to the canned lionhunting industry. Chris Mercer, co-founder of the Campaign Against Canned Hunting.

To find out more about the canned lion hunting industry and how travelers are inadvertently contributing to it by caring4/10

for lion cubs and walking with lions watch Blood Lions. This documentary follows acclaimed environmental journalistand safari operator Ian Michler, and Rick Swazey, an American hunter, on their journey to uncover the realities aboutthe multi-million dollar predator breeding and canned lion hunting industries in South Africa.It is a story that blows thelid off claims made by these operators in attempting to justify what they do.

4. Not Saying Anything When Your Safari Driver Gets to Close to Wildlife

Safari jeeps crowding around a leopard in Yala National Park who is scared out of his tree.

I’ve done quite a few safaris and have always found that the drivers had a good balance of getting the jeep closeenough to get a good look at the animals without getting too close and causing the animal stress. That all changedwhen I went to Sri Lanka both in Kaudulla National Park with elephants and in Yala National Park with leopards.

In Yala, our guide spotted a leopard in a tree. Word soon got out and other jeep drivers got excited and pulled incloser and closer to give their guests a better viewing opportunity. Our driver kept revving his engine and gettingcloser. I asked him to back off. Nothing. So I asked again. He seemed really surprised. He was just trying to give methe best photo opp possible.

But at the cost of stressing out the leopard. What if the additional stress meant that later that night the leopard was tootired to hunt? We don’t know the chain reaction we cause by stressing out wildlife. We were now blocked in by at least20 other jeeps, all revving their engines.

Finally, having had enough the poor leopard decided to seek out a quieter location away from the shouting tourists anddiesel fumes. That meant he had to climb down the tree and cross the road several meters from our jeep! Thisresulted in a leopard viewing of a lifetime but at a HUGE expense to the leopard who had been sleeping peacefully

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before we came and wrecked it all.

Our guide Jerome sadly shook his head and said; In 10 years it will be virtually impossible to see a leopard in Yala, wewill have scared them all away.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with him. I loved my time in Yala but was very disappointed to see how little respectsome of the drivers had for wildlife by getting too close or revving their engines. And it’s not just one or two jeeps,there are dozens of them, resulting in traffic jams along the road.

I get that everyone wants to see a leopard, I know I certainly did, but not when it inflicts animal cruelty. And not whenwe are interfering with their natural behaviour. Had all the jeeps stayed a few meters further back on the road, it’slikely the leopard would have remained undisturbed in his tree. Given the choice, I would have gladly sacrificed myphoto opportunity for the well-being of the leopard.

This lack of respect for wildlife that I saw with several Sri Lankan tour operators is one of the motivating factors for meoffering a custom Wildlife and Cultural Highlights of Sri Lanka Tour. I’ve teamed with a tour operator who I’vepersonally travelled with and who is responsible. They’re not leopard chasers as they call the other jeeps. They wantyou to see wildlife but not in a way that hurts wildlife. And I still saw a leopard when I went with them.

The first thing you can do to avoid this from happening is

1) travel with a responsible tour operator, like Monkeys and Mountains Adventure Travel that respects wildlife. Whenyou observe wildlife, like gorillas, we insist on keeping a respectable difference to the animals

2) If it does happen, ask your guide/driver to back off. If you love animals you don’t want to cause them more stressthat will have unintended outcomes that you have no way of knowing – starvation, becoming prey, etc.

And if you go on a self-drive safari follow these tips from Travel4Wildlife.

5) Volunteering with Wildlife or at an Animal Sanctuary

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Me cleaning up chimpanzee poop at a primate sanctuary in Spain.

This is not necessarily a bad thing and your heart is in the right place but you need to do your research. Manyorganizations will claim conservation, rehabilitation, and reintroduction as their goals but often it’s to line the owner’s pockets with tourists trusted money.

About 15 years ago I was going to volunteer with lion cubs in South Africa. I mentioned this to a friend that I hadliving in South Africa. It sounded very suspicious to him as he was South African and had never heard of this. He didsome research and came back with the terrible news. The organization that I had planned on volunteering with tookon paid volunteers.

Then where the cubs were no longer cute and cuddly, they sold the lions to a canned hunting farm. Keep in mind thisis before the increased awareness about canned hunting – see above. Needless to say, I didn’t volunteer afterlearning this and was horrified! If I could remember the name of the organization as I would happily share it as aWhere NOT to Volunteer but unfortunately I don’t remember as it was so long ago.

However, don’t let that dissuade you. There are some wonderful wildlife organizations and animal sanctuaries whereyou can make a positive contribution and they desperately need your help.

I volunteered with rescued chimps at MONA, a chimp sanctuary near Girona, Spain. They rescued chimps andmacaques that had been kept as pets are performed in circuses. The team was incredibly dedicated, educated and

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passionate.

The chimps and macaques are very well cared for by a vet, biologist, and psychologist. In addition, both the vet andbiologist had Master degrees in Primatology.

Chimps are very expensive to care for and MONA does an exceptional job of very limited resources. Volunteers makea positive difference by doing the work and with the money, they pay for the incredible opportunity.

6) Eating Local Specialities Like Shark Fin Soup When Travelling

You want to immerse yourself in the local culture and eat local food. Kudos to you for that. But please be aware ofwhat you’re eating and the harm it can do to wildlife.

Something that’s very close to my heart since I met my husband while diving with sharks is eating shark fin soup. It’sconsidered a delicacy especially in China and Hong Kong.

Shark finning is a cruel and destructive unsustainable practice that’s threatening the entire marine ecosystem. Sharks(of any size or type) are caught and the fins are cut off. The rest of the shark is thrown back into the water. Unable toswim, the shark either drowns or is eaten alive by other fish. If that’s not animal cruelty I don’t know what is.

Either way, it’s a painful and wasteful death. Over 100 million sharks are killed each year for shark fin soup. This isdespite the fact that the fins have no nutrient value and they’re tasteless. Check out this video to learn moreabout shark finning.

By all means, eat like the locals do when traveling but know what you’re eating. And the impact it has on wildlife.

7)Swimming with Dolphins or Seeing a Dolphin Show

We’ve all heard stories of dolphins saving a family from a Great White Shark and of bow riding – surfing the wavesfrom boats so surely they’d like to swim with us right? Perhaps on their own terms but not in captivity.

First, there’s the issue of where the dolphins are coming from. Most are caught in the wild. The cute ones are sold totourist attractions. The less pretty ones slaughtered for meat. Families are separated and torn apart. Once caught, thecute ones face a grim future. Enclosures are usually small – they’re all too small when you consider that dolphins swimtens of km’s each day.

Furthermore, dolphins may be kept in incompatible groups and with such small enclosures, they have no way toescape the conflict. As a result of the conditions and performing many dolphins in captivity die premature deaths dueto stress.

Source: PETA. If you need further proof watch The Cove, it’s an undercover documentary exposing the dolphinslaughter in Japan.

8) Don’t Give Money to Dancing Monkeys

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Dancing monkey: By Rangbaz (Own work) via Wikimedia Commons

I couldn’t resist one last one. This should be obvious but monkeys on chains don’t want to dress up. They don’t want todance. They’re likely being beaten and are doing it out of fear.

Don’t buy the monkey a banana thinking that you’re helping or give money for the care of it. You’re just encouragingongoing cruelty. Instead, report the incident and let the local tourist office know that you don’t support these types ofactivities.

Primates are intelligent beings who feel things deeply. It’s why I volunteer on a weekly basis providing enrichment forJapanese macaques at a local sanctuary.

Have you ever inadvertently inflicted animal cruelty while on vacation? We can’t control whatwe’ve done in the past but we can try to do better in the future. Being informed and doing ourresearch before we travel is a big part of that.

Help spread the word so that we can stop accidentally inflicting animal cruelty whileon holiday.

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LaurelLaurel Robbins is the founder of Monkeys and Mountains, an adventure travel blog and companythat helps people plan their active holidays in a sustainable way. Although Canadian, she lives inGermany. You can find her in the mountains on most weekends.http://monkeysandmountains.com

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