In an open letter, World Animal Protection supported by other NGOs including Humane Society International, Born Free, and Animal Welfare Institute call on the UNWTO and its partners to lead the way in making sure the travel industry takes a lead role in stopping commercial exploitation of wild animals – the cause of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has released a set of 23 recommendations for the global tourism industry, focused on ’growing back better’ as the sector recovers post COVID-19, but wildlife tourism is not mentioned.
The call on the UNWTO is also backed by travel companies such as Airbnb, Intrepid Travel and travel associations, including SATSA in South Africa.
COVID-19 is a wakeup call for the world to reset its relationship with wild animals. As one of the industries that has been worst hit by the current crisis, and most vulnerable to future ones, the tourism industry must take a lead role in stopping the exploitation of wild animals.
Up to 550,000 wild animals are estimated to be living in tourist entertainment venues across the world. The sector must stop profiting from activities such as elephant rides and bathing, selfies with wild animals, petting big cats and swimming with captive dolphins.
Instead it needs to only sell and promote wildlife-friendly tourism, including genuine wildlife sanctuaries and well-managed observation of wild animals in their natural habitat.
Ben Pearson, Head of Campaigns for World Animal Protection said:
“The tourism industry is one of the most vulnerable to disease pandemics and must be at the forefront of preventing futures ones occurring. Central to that is stopping the exploitation of wild animals.
“Tourism companies must play their part by refusing to promote or sell tickets to venues that dangerously normalise the idea that wild animals are just entertainers, performers or photo props.
“Demand for captive wildlife in tourism entertainment attractions drives captive breeding for the wildlife trade and the removal of wild animals from their natural habitats. Responsible wildlife-friendly tourism is safer and helps put an end to the horrific trade in wild animals for entertainment.
“We are at a turning point in our relationship with wild animals. We need to start practicing social distancing between people and wildlife – leaving wild animals in the wild, where they belong.”
In addition to the inherent cruelty involved, the cruel exploitation of wild animals fuels disease emergence, and the ongoing pandemic is a prime example of that. The unnecessarily close contact between humans and wildlife – especially where captive animals are subjected to poor welfare conditions – can have catastrophic and devastating effects.
World Animal Protection strongly recommends that the UNWTO calls for the phasing out of all use of captive wildlife for tourist entertainment. In doing so, the UNWTO has the unique opportunity to address the suffering and exploitation of wild animals, helping safeguard human health as well as promoting the recovery of a responsible and resilient tourism economy.
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