Animals in Tourism

Wildlife tourism is a huge market and can promote local livelihoods, education and conservation. Opportunities to see and interact with wild animals abound in many destinations around the world, however not all of the experiences on offer will prioritise animal welfare.

From taking a sloth selfie or feeding a crocodile, to riding an elephant or cuddling a tiger cub, many experiences can put an animal’s welfare at risk and maybe even your own. Often without realising it, tourists can contribute to significant animal suffering, disturbance and illegal activities such as endangered wildlife trading, as well as putting our own health and safety in jeopardy.

Animal Welfare

Despite an increasing understanding of what good animal welfare might look like, many tourist activities exist which involve the exploitation and mistreatment of animals. However, the choices you make for your tourism experience can create a big difference for animals involved in this industry.

By putting animal welfare first, making ethical decisions and choosing not to disturb wildlife, you can ensure a decrease in demand for exploitative interactions with animals. Make sure to keep a respectful distance, avoid staged photo opportunities or animal handling interactions, refuse to ride animals and don’t buy animal products. Finally, trust your instincts, if something doesn’t feel right – don’t partake in the activity.

Animal cruelty is often unintentionally fuelled through tourists and the tourism trade. There is increasing demand for travel and tourism companies to show due regard for the ethical and welfare aspects of wildlife tourism and we are pleased to have partnered with travel companies Klook and Explore to work with their enthusiastic teams in this regard.

Like many other travel companies, Klook and Explore both recognise their responsibilities towards ensuring any experiences they offer do not negatively impact animals’ lives. As such, they have both created a set of animal welfare standards, provides guiding principles in how animals can be a part of the travel experience in a responsible, ethical and respectful way.

Having travel companies committing to ensuring their partners around the world meet these standards can drive forward positive changes for animals which may be impacted by the tourism industry.

As experienced animal welfare auditors and advisors in global animal welfare practice, Wild Welfare will continue to help travel and tourism companies willing to improve animal welfare within their offers and experiences. By working with companies in travel, we can help end future animal exploitation within the tourism industry, ensuring expeditions and experiences involving wildlife are governed by protective policies.