Animal cruelty has exsist for centuries, however in recent decades its sharply turned for the worst. This past decade has brought more animal activists and vegans, but whether vegan or your average being, the use of wildlife in tourism is becoming increasingly popular and abusive. Wild animals are being exploited for the entertainment of humans.
Animal activists generally activate against the use of hormones in meat, caged hens or the killing of the animal, but what goes unseen is the treatment of animals in tourism.
Wildlife tourism has spiked in the last decade, mostly by Asians and influencers. But even Westerners who try not to exploit animals, are scammed by largely profitable organisations.
Such example is Meena Kalamapijit who owns two tourist destinations, Maetaman and EcoValley. Maetaman is where elephants performing tricks and EcoValley is where you'd find elephants bathing and relaxing. EcoValley, created in 2017, was made to suit American tourists, to see elephants in there natural habitat enjoying themselves. You'd think these are two different organisations with two different views, while they're all one company. Elephants rotate between the two destinations and are caged and sometimes even chained at night.
Animals such as elephants, monkeys, tigers, polar bears, bears and dolphins are such animals that get the most abuse. Elephants are generally abused by carrying people or having to perform in circus tricks such as balancing on pedastools and painting. Monkeys are made to walk around in a leash and when not performing live in two by three foot cages. While tigers are often declawed and drugged so tourists can take pictures with them. Polar bears get forced to dance ballroom when bears are often forced to walk long distances on their hind legs, something which has to be trained in bears and is often done by chaining their neck. Dolphins are usually made to kiss humans as well as to perform tricks and live in very tight waters. Most of these animals are chained when they're not performing and many taken away from their mothers soon after there birth so they can be used for tourism.
The World Tourism Orhanisation is the United Nations (UNWTO) agency for sustainable tourism. Wildlife tourism accounts for up to 40% of tourism gloabally. Most animals in tourism aew abused, and with a continuation like this, how many diseases coming from animals could we expect in the future? There are charitable organisations such as World Animal Protection and Born Free who are trying to stop wildlife explotation. World Animal Protection, endorced with over 200 other organisations wrote a letter to the UNWTO to make wildlife tourism both better for animals and humans. They urged them to call for all wildlife entertainment to be stopped to protect the health of animals as well as those of humans.
And finally what you can do. Spread the word. Fight for wild animals as you do for hormone filled meat and caged hens. For these are wild animals - as all animals are, including ourselves. How would you like to be chained for the rest of your life?
