Hi there my Hivean friends and followers!
When doing my curation job here on Hive, I sometimes stumble upon a great travel report from an interesting place with some nice photos and cool write up but then, as I keep reading, I spot it... A picture of the author of the post riding an elephant, posing with a tiger, watching an orca show in the Sea World...
I understand that people find this kind of interaction with animals attractive and cool but many of them simply don´t realize the grim background of these practices so let me dedicate this post to raising awareness about the issue of animal abuse in the tourism industry.
As shocking and heartbreaking as it sounds, a recent Oxford University study found out that globally, as many as 3 out of 4 tourist attractions featuring animals actually involve some kind of animal cruelty. That translates to hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of animal suffering just for the profit of their callous owners and for the joy of unaware or irresponsible tourists all over the world.
The range of the cruelty is really wide. From most of those riding attractions (elephants, donkeys, camels, ostriches) and animal circuses to posing with/holding wild (and otherwise dangerous) exotic animals like tigers, snakes, monkeys or crocodiles and watching shows where large marine mammals like dolphins, seals and orcas are kept in small concrete tanks and forced to perform tricks they would never do in their natural environment.
There have been countless cases of animals being crippled, injured and even dying right on the spot as the result of carrying heavy tourists (often in extreme heat), there have been well documented cases of captive dolphins trying to hurt themselves and even commit a suicide and I am sure it´s needless to speak about the "happiness" of wild animals kept in cages and trained to pose for photos...
I could have put dozens of disturbing actual photos illustrating these practices here but hopefully, it´s not necessary. Also, to be honest with you, such photos or videos make me super angry, sad and agitated and it often literally ruins the day for me so I am not going to do that here.
Let me put just one picture here that would also be the cover imagine for the post. It is a photo of a poor old elephant who collapsed and died after carrying tourists in Cambodia during some extreme heatwave last month.
The photos is from this article published on buzzworthy.com and I highly recommend reading the article to learn more about the issue of animal abuse in tourism.
Now let me wrap up this little rant with some personal advice. As a dedicated animal lover, I totally understand the desire to watch wild animals and maybe even interact with them somehow. But please, before you do that, make sure you are not supporting any type of business that involves animal abuse.
If you want to interact with elephants in Asia, go to one of those sanctuaries where they care for the animals with respect and love (they usually redeem abused elephants to let them spend at least the last years of their lives in freedom and well-being).
If you want to see dolphins and orcas, go for an excursion on the open sea where you can observe these magnificent creatures doing natural things in their natural environment.
If you want to pet a sloth, visit a rescue center were they care for injured and orphaned sloths until they are strong and independent enough to get back to the jungle.
I mean there is always a way to watch the animals or even interact with them without hurting them or without supporting a business that abuses them. It might not be the easiest, cheapest or most comfortable option but it is there and it´s only up to you what you choose...
Please, be responsible and respectful to animals. This planet belongs to them just as it does to us.
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