Major Travel Companies Still Selling Exploitative Animal Attractions, Report Reveals
Trip.com and TUI are among the worst offenders in the report, which shows the companies still profiting from the likes of elephant riding and tiger selfies.
Credit: Amy Jones/Moving Animals
Dolphins, elephants, primates and big cats are among the animals being exploited by some of the world’s biggest travel companies, according to a new report.
Animal welfare organization World Animal Protection (WAP) says hundreds of thousands of wild animals are being exploited worldwide for tourist entertainment. The group says that the animal’s suffering is often ‘invisible’, and cleverly hidden by venues and associated travel companies who put profits first.
That has led WAP to launch the Real Responsible Traveller report, which reviews thirteen leading travel companies to assess the state of the tourism industry and its impact on animals.
Credit: Amy Jones/Moving Animals
Companies were scored across key areas, including the quality of their animal welfare policies and how much they promote wildlife-friendly travel choices. The companies were also checked to see if they offered any of the five most common exploitative “animal attractions”, which are:
Elephant attractions such as rides, shows or ‘washing’ experiences
Primate attractions such as ‘petting’ or hand feeding opportunities
Big cat attractions such as selfies, shows or ‘petting’ experiences
Dolphin attractions such as performances or ‘swim with’ experiences
Wildlife attractions such as shows, rides or any direct interactive experiences with other wild animal species
World Animal Protection says these “animal attractions” result in thousands of animals being caught in the wild or born into captivity every year. Animals in this industry are typically removed from their mothers at an early age and then subjected to harsh training regimes which have been found to cause physical and psychological harm.
Animals are then said to be forced into unnatural “show” environments which are incredibly stressful, say WAP, though the public are misleadingly told these attractions have educational or conservation benefits.
Now, the new report says five of the companies assessed were found to be “severely failing wildlife”. The companies - GetYourGuide, Klook, Traveloka, Trip.com and TUI Musemen - are said to be among the most influential businesses in the global tourism industry, but were all still selling harmful exploitative wildlife experiences.
Credit: Amy Jones/Moving Animals
“They are not keeping pace with other global travel companies and industry leaders to protect wild animals, instead choosing to continue to profit from wild animal suffering,” explained Morvah George, World Animal Protection’s Campaign Lead for Wildlife.
Trip.com for example, which boasts over 400 million users worldwide, was found to be selling unethical attractions involving a wide range of species, including dolphins, elephants and big cats.
The report also acknowledges the companies that performed best. Airbnb, Booking.com and The Travel Corporation were the top three companies, having previously removed all captive wildlife entertainment from their listings.
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Hope was last seen traveling with another critically endangered Mexican gray wolf, whose whereabouts remain unknown.