posted by Catherine on Jul 16
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What should you do if you see captive wild animals in poor conditions when abroad?
There are many cultures in the world that have a certain disregard for captive animals – but all the more saddening when it is wild caught animals that are used to get ‘tourist dollars’.
Many cultures are associated with certain traditions – such as bear dancing and ‘pet’ monkeys but these have been made worse by people asking for and paying for sights like these as the norm. Of course, there are many captive wild animals that we will pay to go and see – but you need to make sure that you and other travellers have the animals interests in mind rather than just your own.
I recently went to an adventure park in Mexico that happened to have animals there as well and I was appalled at the conditions of some of the animals and made sure that I reported this to my hotel and the tourist office I booked the trip through.
The conditions were not so terrible that it needed to be taken further on this occasion - but if all the people before me had reported this before I visited, then the animals may well have been in better enclosures by now – or the park may well have been taken off the tourist route.
Voting With Your Dollar!
Tourist destinations depend on tourist like you visiting their sites and attractions and spending your money locally – so if the service they offer isn’t worth paying for then make sure you tell someone. That way you could save all the animals involved a life in harsh conditions – but you could prevent hundreds of people after you from paying for the same ‘pleasure’!
When you read about a local area, the guide books only recommend those places that attract huge numbers of people to them as they must therefore be ‘good’. But what if everyone is coming away disappointed? Who will know unless they all tell someone?
It’s not worth keeping it to yourself either – as if you don’t tell a certain establishment what they are doing that has driven you away – they can’t do anything to rectify it.
How can we expect destinations to improve if we don’t tell them what we expect from them?
What To Do If It’s Really Bad:
If, however, you find animals in such appalling conditions that you just have to do something about it then your best bet is the Born Free Foundation.
They have a multitude of ways in which they can investigate wildlife crime and negotiate better conditions for animals. Whether they were just tiger cubs in a ‘zoo’ taken from their parents for ‘cute photos’ or whether they are fully grown tigers in a tiny cage above a bar in Greece – if f you feel it is abuse then take the first step to resolving that issue.
Animals can’t speak for themselves – but your money and your actions can. Just like payed conservation in reverse – if you pay for it – they just keep doing it.
Visit www.bornfree.org.uk for more details or to support their work – or email on zoocheck@bornfree.org.uk.
Thank you in advance.
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