It won’t surprise anyone to know that I’m not the sort of person who’d choose to go to tourist attractions that keep animals in captivity for human entertainment. But like many of us, when it comes to interacting with animals while on holiday, there are things I look back on that I would do differently now.
Tourist attractions such as dolphin parks and tiger temples exist only for commercial gain at the price of a lifetime of mental and often physical pain for those held captive – something most of us have come to understand and abhor. But there are some experiences that many animal lovers might not realise are harmful. Thousands of tourists visiting Asia, for example, have taken an elephant ride.
Many years ago, I did just that with my stepdaughter Megan, who was only a child. We rode elephant-back on safari to see tigers in their natural habitat. It was the only way to see them without being mauled, but in hindsight that was no justification.
I remember having a conversation with Megan and asking if we really wanted to do this. We discussed what the elephants might think about it. And I insisted we visit the place they were kept, rather than just jump on them at the side of the road. But today I would make a different decision based on ethics alone. The fact of the matter is that those elephants were probably working exclusively for our gratification – and that is not OK.
The suffering of animals in the tourism industry is depressingly common, and I’m far from the only person who has witnessed this horrifying treatment of animals while travelling. New polling from Animals Asia shows that one in three Britons have seen animal cruelty at a tourist attraction abroad – and most felt guilty about it. One person shared her experience on holiday in Japan, where she saw a polar bear trapped in a 10-metre-long cage with no company and no source of distraction. It looked distressed as it paced back and forth shaking its head. She said it was “heartbreaking to see such a majestic animal reduced to this state for entertainment”. And she was not alone in this experience, with many others posting horrified reviews about the polar bear.
Over decades of travelling, I too have come across some overtly shocking treatment of animals clearly being exploited for our entertainment. The last time was in Morocco, when I was investigating the macaques they use as attractions in the markets. These poor monkeys were kept in terrible conditions and physically abused. Locked up during the daytime, they’d be brought out in the early evening for photo opportunities with holidaymakers. If someone has tethered an animal, dressed it up as Elvis and is dragging it on a lead to plonk it on someone’s shoulder, there’s obviously no respect or concern for its welfare at all – and the same goes for so many similar selfie opportunities. It seems likely that animal exploitation is increasing with the rise of selfie culture, and that it’s not fully understood by much of the public – which is why we desperately need laws such as the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act, passed last year to prevent UK travel companies selling tickets to cruel attractions. Sadly though, the way things stand, it’s an utterly pointless piece of legislation. While the last government went to the trouble of passing this act through parliament, it failed to set out a list of activities banned under it. That means thousands of holidaymakers can continue to buy tickets to attractions that treat animals barbarically this summer.
But there are some simple yet powerful things we can all do to help shut down these cruel trades. For starters we need to use the pounds in our pockets as a form of protest. This summer, simply refuse to spend money on any experience that might cause suffering to animals. Think critically and do proper research. If in doubt, don’t put that pound where it could hurt those without a voice. And blow the whistle hard on any cruelty you come across. You can report incidents of animal cruelty at tourist attractions anywhere in the world to organisations including Animals Asia, who will use it to create a dossier of evidence to put pressure on the new government to make sure animals are not pushed aside – and to ensure the new law is fit for purpose. Your evidence is vital.
There’s a reason we don’t allow non-human animals to suffer for human entertainment in the UK – we all know it’s wrong. It’s always been wrong, and given what we know about animals’ capacity for suffering, we shouldn’t be able to just turn our consciences on or off. And so different rules can’t apply just because we’re on holiday. These days there are ethical ways to observe and develop an understanding of animals either within their natural habitats or at legitimate rescue centres, such as the ethical elephant tourism programme in Vietnam.
It’s time to do better and make sure we choose well when it comes to satisfying our innate desire to experience the animals we share our planet with. We should have an affinity and respect for all life and want to cherish it. No five-minute thrill or subsequent social media post we get from an animal encounter is worth a lifetime of misery for them. We need to remember, their lives are as important as ours.
Chris Packham is a naturalist, environmental and animal welfare campaigner, author and television presenter on BBC Two’s Springwatch
