Young people are increasingly rejecting inhumane animal activities

A new poll, commissioned by World Animal Protection, shows a meaningful shift in the way travelers view inhumane animal activities such as elephant rides, swimming with the dolphins excursions, and animal selfies.

For all ages, the poll found a 9 percent drop in the number of people who believe elephant riding is acceptable compared to three years ago. Over 80 percent of tourists stated they would prefer to view animals in their natural environment.

The poll also found that millennial travelers were the most compassionate age group. Jennifer Yellin, Senior Vice President at Northstar, a research firm that conducted focus groups for World Animal Protection said in a press release, “There is a relationship between age and travel activity choice when it comes to animal welfare. For example, people under 35 are more aware of animal cruelty issues. This age segment, more so than older travelers, voice greater interest in seeing animals in their natural habitats rather than forced interactions like swimming with dolphins.”

Young people are known for their interest in traveling and enjoying experiences over material possessions. The desire to have exciting experiences can draw people towards inhumane animal attractions, which often promise hands-on opportunities to play with and take photos of wild animals. Despite this, young people seem to be conscientious of animal welfare when making traveling decisions.

Animal attractions are a common site throughout the world. To unsuspecting travelers, these attractions may seem like a safe haven for wild animals. After all, inhumane animal attractions often try to market themselves this way by using words such as “sanctuary” and by claiming they rescued the animals.

A comprehensive study that examined the welfare of animals in 24 different types of wildlife attractions found that 14 attraction types had negative animal welfare and conservation impacts including captive dolphin interactions, elephant parks, and tiger encounters.

The elephant parks in Asia are a particularly prominent animal attraction. There has been a 30 percent rise in the number of elephant attractions in Thailand since 2010. These attractions offer opportunities to ride, touch and bathe elephants.

According to World Animal Protection, elephants used for rides undergo a cruel breaking-in process where they are isolated, restrained and struck at a young age to make them accept human riders. A survey by Animal Nepal of 42 elephant safaris found that over 80 percent of the elephants lived in unsuitable conditions.

The new poll shows a promising change in consumer attitude towards animal attractions, especially among the new wave of travelers.

“It’s very encouraging to know that young travelers are increasingly considering the wellbeing of animals in their plans. We know that vacationers don’t want to harm wildlife, in fact polling shows that most people participate in harmful wildlife attractions because they like animals. This movement away from captive wildlife attractions is about education and working with travel companies to improve policies,” says Josey Kitson, Executive Director of World Animal Protection Canada in the press release.

The poll comes a few years after TripAdvisor announced that they are no longer selling tickets to attractions where travelers can touch wild animals and Instagram announced that wildlife hashtags will come with a notification warning about potential animal abuse.

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Nepal's First Elephant Refuge is underway!

GLOUCESTER, Mass., Oct. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Direct Aid Nepal is excited to announce that they have started the first refuge in Chitwan Nepal for rescued and retired private elephants. Direct Aid Nepal is a United States 501c3 charity. They have started a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo and are seeking donations in exchange for travel in Nepal.

This year Direct Aid built the first chain free corrals for private elephants in Sauraha Nepal. Chain free corrals allow captive elephants to be free from their bondage of chains while they are home and not working. They also retired their first elephants from working conditions. A baby bull elephant, Samrat Gaj and in conjunction with Association Moey, 60 year old Lucky Kali. Lucky Kali had spent her life in the logging industry and then in the tourist industry.

"We have a perfect location with a beautiful river running through it. Water is a precious resource here which will now be protected by the foundation to be used by the elephants, the local children, and fishermen in permanent trust." Said Donna Marshall, Founder of Direct Aid Nepal. "Our goals are multifaceted. It will cost $400,000 to legally secure the elephants, pay for their care in full, hire staff and prepare the property for elephants. We are going to need a lot of support to bring this dream to life".

Donna Marshall, founder of Direct Aid Nepal, has spent a great deal of time initiating a development plan for the elephant refuge. She has created a temporary set up with chain free corrals, complete with toys, a watering system and considers the welfare of the mahouts (elephant caretakers) as a top priority. Ms. Marshall has been an advocate of elephants in the United States and in Nepal for decades. This year her organization provided the support to retire the first residents of the refuge, the foundation also sponsored the first foot care program at Sapana by Carol Buckley.

Since the earthquake in 2015, and with a changing socioeconomic environment, private elephant owners are seeking alternatives for their very expensive elephants. Tourism has changed and the educated consumer does not wish to have elephants subjected to cruelty with elephant rides and inhumane chaining.

The Refuge will become the center of training for all mahouts. Here they will teach humane training and continue to have foot care clinics.

Direct Aid Nepal will evaluate the 108 private elephants in Nepal and the board will determine at least once per year which elephants should be retired from the community and then will negotiate their retirement with the private owner with the stipulation that the elephant cannot be replaced. The Refuge has confirmed they already have a list of 6 elephants that desperately need help.

They have created some clever reward packages to entice financial support to back the project. There is a trip for everyone and different price points but each includes a visit to the Refuge to see the elephants. And for those that can't travel there are smaller donation packages available. Every penny helps!

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