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Our encounters with animals abroad are some of our favorite and most memorable experiences on our trips! Sometimes an animal is synonymous with a country. For example, when you think of Australia, you think of kangaroos and koalas. And when you think of Alaska, you think of bears, whales, and dogs pulling dog sleds. For most of us, seeing these exotic animals on our trips is an absolute must do, and we all go out of our way to book tours to go see them. For this reason, I think we should all think about how our actions impact these animal's lives, because we may only see them one time, but they are often forced to see us everyday for the rest of their lives. The more we are informed about this topic, the better choices we can make as far as reevaluating our impact on them, and therefore we'll be better travelers and ambassadors of this amazing world.
My love for animals in general has been growing as I get older, and I have to say that travel has a lot to do with that. That love runs so deep now that it has
converted us to vegetarianism! I
have been educating myself more about the neglect and exploitation of animals, and making changes to ensure that I don't contribute to these horrible acts of cruelty anymore (if i have in the past.) The more I am exposed to them on my travels, the more I'm becoming aware of their circumstances... like a veil is being lifted from my eyes. I'm not an animal expert, but I have been doing my research and I am learning more everyday. Below I have several topics on how we see animals abroad, how it can be harmful to animals, and the possible solution:
Topic #1: Zoos & Animal Parks The Problem: Unfortunately, not every Zoo institution cares about the well being of their animals. When Victor and I went to Beijing, I researched places to go see Pandas. Unfortunately, the only place available was the Beijing Zoo, which had appalling living conditions for their animals. According to Tripadvisor.com, people who visited this Zoo said, and I quote: "Poor animals...," "The elephant looked sick and thin...," "tiny filthy enclosures...," "One of the worst zoos I've ever visited...," "crazed monkey throwing himself against glass enclosure wall...," and the awful reviews
go on.... The few people that gave this zoo a good review have that veil over their eyes that I mentioned earlier. Thankfully, I saw these reviews before, so I made the conscious decision to boycott the zoo and never go in.
Safari Parks, which are the local animal parks you drive in to, are also very harmful to animals. The animals themselves become endangered when we pass through with our own vehicles and feed them things they aren't supposed to ingest. The Captive Animal's Protection Society (CAPS) even states in their findings that many of these safari parks fail to take proper care of their animals.
The Solution: Do your research first before you visit a specific zoo. It's simply not worth your money to go to a sad, awful zoo. There are plenty of good zoos out there that take good care of their animals and offer their animals the best living conditions to live a healthy long life. Support only the good zoos, but boycott (meaning, don't support with your money) the zoos that are mistreating their animals. As human beings we have a strong voice, and we get to vote with our dollar
on the things we support. If all of us said that we will not purchase a ticket to a particular zoo until they fix the living conditions of their animals, they'd have no choice but to do it. There are travel tours that are sustainable, ecological, and animal friendly... look for them and choose them if they are offered.
Topic #2: Riding on Animals The Problem: This is a BIG one! When you go to Morocco or Egypt, you ride camels. When you go to South East Asia, you ride Elephants. When you go to the Grand Canyon, you ride donkeys down to the bottom. When you go to South America, you go horse back riding. I can think of many more ways we all go on these amazing rides with these amazing creatures abroad. It becomes a bad thing when the company or tours taking you on these rides are exploiting the animals by not giving them the proper care or the proper rest in between each ride. For example, if you go to Thailand and you go on a tour to ride elephants, but you see that these poor elephants are in really bad
shape and look like they are malnourished, tired, sick, or even anxious... then that means they are being abused, neglected and exploited! "Exploited" means that the person in charge of these animals is not taking care of them, and is only using them to make money. Sometimes these poor animals are being tortured, poked, stabbed, and whipped until they are forced to give you a ride... isn't that horribly disturbing? It Definitely is to me.
The Solution: If you absolutely must ride these animals, ask questions before you ride them, but don't ride them if they are in bad shape! When my husband and I went horseback riding in Peru, it was a random tour set up by locals in Cusco. Before we even paid for the tour and horse back ride, I inquired on the health of their horses first. My exact words were, "Are these horses healthy? Because I will not ride an animal that is sick and abused." He promised me the horses were healthy, but I also made my own visual inspection, literally getting up close to inspect the horses. If they had been sick horses that looked neglected or starved, there is
NO WAY I would have gotten on them! I wouldn't have cared about the money or time lost, so long as I am not contributing to the pain of an animal. The elephant we rode and played with in Thailand was from a sanctuary that rescues older neglected elephants. The more questions we ask, and the more these companies know we will not tolerate riding on sick animals (like the ones with bones jutting out of their skin from starvation) the more they'll be inclined to take better care of them. Turning a blind eye and choosing to ignore the horrible health of the animal you are riding is the worst thing you can do because you will be contributing to the abuse the animal is going through.
Topic #3: Aquariums & "Sea Shows" The Problem: Watching the "Black Fish" documentary was a huge eye opener. And apparently it is catching on, because bills are now being passed to ban Orcas (killer whales) from sea shows in California, Greece, Costa Rica, Hungary, Chile, Switzerland, and India. This documentary gives you an inside look at the depression these huge whales suffer while in captivity, since they are
forced to live and perform tricks in these tiny claustrophobic pools when they are meant to swim hundred of miles of open ocean. These whales are so mentally effected that they have even KILLED their human trainers. One of these trainers was viciously killed at a Sea World in Spain during a live show, and every time this happens Sea World does absolutely nothing about it except to try to cover up the truth. The people who buy tickets to go there are giving Sea World the money and power to continue to exploit not only these beautiful wild creatures, but also their human trainers. Make sure you know who you are funding with your money, because all these people care about is that they continue to be multi-million dollar companies.
The Solution: Why not try seeing these animals in their natural habitat instead? When we went to Cabo San Lucas Mexico, we did a whale watching tour and saw humpbacks, seals, and dolphins in the wild/ocean and It was incredible! It is a hundred times better than watching a sad killer whale jump through hoops for food. And best of all, you aren't harming them in this way.
You know they are happy because they are with their families and they are living their life as free as you and me. You can also try going snorkeling or diving! When we went to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, we saw hundreds of marine creatures in their natural environment while snorkeling, and we still regard this as one of the best experiences of our lives!
Topic #5: Pictures with Animals! The Problem: Every where you go there is some kind of situation where you can get pictures taken with an exotic animal. Pictures with dolphins, tigers, and lizards... even pictures with a huge white snake around your neck... you name it, it's everywhere! Sometimes it's hard to tell if these places are exploiting their animals, because you only see the animals for that one second until the picture is taken, and then you are off on your next travel adventure. When we were in Cairns, Australia, we did the "Cuddle a Koala" picture, where I got a chance to hold a koala in my arms. Just as quick as they put him in my arms for the picture, they were
quickly taking him away again. When they told me it was because Koala's sleep most of the day, and that they had to make the picture taking process quick so that the koala could go back to his regular sleeping patterns, I thought this was excellent! It shows that they were looking out for the Koala's well being. The process seemed very organized, and it was controlled by veterinary assistants. Most importantly, you could see they were being kind and handling them with delicate hands. I try my best to be conscious about these decisions, and have never done anything if I feel and see that the animal is being abused. I'd say that the
Tiger Temple (near Bangkok) was the most controversial animal experience we've ever had, and it's something I wish I had researched better before we went.
We now feel very conflicted about our visit there, and I touch up on that subject on my Thailand blog. Victor and I saw a documentary about the Tiger Temple on Youtube that illustrated that the mission of the monks was to protect the tigers from poachers in the wild. The problem is that there are many articles speaking out
against the Tiger Temple too, and they give very valid points. Even though the tigers there looked happy and cared for and we had an amazing experience interacting with them, I know there is more to it than that. Here is an article you might want to read on the Tiger Temple: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/tiger-temple-thailand-animal-abuse/
The Solution: Refuse to pay for a picture with an animal if you can see, or even suspect, that these animals are being abused, neglected, malnourished, and exploited... and say something about it! You can tell the person selling the picture that you don't like the condition the animal is in and that you wish to not participate. Look for opportunities where you can get a picture taken with animals where the care taker is actually a professional, like a veterinary assistant, or zoologist etc. These people will usually make the picture taking process revolve around the needs of their animals and their well being.
Summary: 10 Rules for Animal Care while Traveling: (1) Don't ride an animal if its in bad shape, and say something about it to the person in charge! Don't just turn a blind eye when
you see something is wrong, if you choose to ignore it, it's like you are contributing to the abuse.
(2) Take a tour to see the animal in it's natural habitat instead of in captivity, it's better for them, better for you, and better for the environment.
(3) Research & review every zoo online before you visit! If people review that the animals are neglected there, DON'T go in! Go somewhere elsewhere!
(4) It goes without saying, don't purposely look to mistreat these animals on your own! Protect them, and treat them with kindness! (5) Word of mouth: If you know there's a good or bad place for animals, speak up! And write a review to warn people! Or complain to the manager! If the care taker of the animal knows you are appalled by the animal's condition, he'll be inclined to change the situation.
(6) Volunteer at
shelters, sanctuaries, or reserves on your trips instead! Your experience will be so much more meaningful knowing you are taking care of the animals and contributing to their well being.
(7) Don't feed the animals things that will make them sick or potentially kill them. Always
make Conscious decisions.
(8) Watch documentaries like Black Fish, and get informed on whats really happening at places like Sea World. The whales should be freed, PERIOD!
(9) Vote with your money and support only good animal institutions. Remember, these animals can not speak for themselves, its up to us to protect them.
(10) Sometimes it's hard to tell if the "pictures with animals" experience is legitimately a good one where they are taking care of their animals, so make sure you aren't just doing it blindly.
Thanks for reading this blog! I hope it helps people become more aware of their actions towards animals.
I dedicate this blog to all our world's amazing animals... the ones we should help and preserve for future generations to appreciate and see when they travel. These poor animals are living with the consequences of our decisions and actions, so we are responsible. Would love to hear what people think, and if there is something I should add to the list, or even change. Only by informing ourselves are we truly growing and truly prepared to make the best conscious decisions to protect our animals. I
leave you with these three quotes:
"The basics of all animal rights should be the Golden Rule; we should treat them as we would wish them to treat us."-Christine Stevens
"The Greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by how it's animals are treated."-Ghandi
"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That's the essence of inhumanity"-George Bernard Shaw
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Tigers playing in Thailand
RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
Research and decision making...
I totally agree with you that we need to research places that offer 'animal activities'...however it's sometimes hard to know if the info online is accurate and/or e.g the very conflicting reports on the Tiger Temple. I think as you said, ultimately we have to make the call when we are there and can see the animals. Really enjoyed this post :)