![]() |
Photo opportunities with wildlife have been thrust into the spotlight following the alleged death of a dolphin. |
Last week social media was afire with a story about asmall dolphin who died after being passed around a crowd, each member taking amoment to handle the animal (stressful in itself) to take their photo then passit on.
It is alleged that the Fransiscana dolphin died of
dehydration, heat stress or a combination when it was manhandled after being washed up (along with at least one other dolphin) on a beach in Argentina, although there are now claims that the dolphin was deceased when the alleged selfies were taken.
The truth is we don’t know the cause of death. It may
have been that the dolphin came ashore because of pre-existing pathology –
regardless, if you’re in a critical condition, being over-handled and subjected
to stress is going to exacerbate stress. Let's entertain the hypothesis that the dolphin was killed by selfies for a moment.
It is absolutely understandable for people to be curious
about animals, but this - if true - is a tragic example of people’s compassion and
curiosity causing unintended suffering. The internet was full of moral outrage
and disgust at humanity, but it’s likely that the people participating had no
clue that they were being cruel, and probably identified as animal lovers. How can this be?
We’re not taught to consider the situation
from the animal’s perspective.
As Professor John Webster teaches, animal welfare is
about two things: our perceptions relating to our treatment of animals, and
THEIR perceptions of their own state. And these things are not necessarily the
same.
Even science and veterinary students are warned of the dangers of unchecked anthropomorphism - which can make them feel uneasy about empathising with animals at all.
But if we consider what this experience was like for a small
animal, without language and without any sense of when the handling would end,
we start to get an idea that our curiosity, enthusiasm and affection for animals can look very different from their point of view.
The dolphin example is abhorrent to people because the
suffering of the animal was acute, but many photo opportunities are associated
with insidious, chronic suffering.
It is not the first time “selfies” have been implicated
in animal harm. According to this report, black cats have been abandoned in
droves, and others not adopted, because their features don’t show up as well in
photos.
There’s also the wildlife tourism trade. I’ll admit I’ve
been guilty of posing with a wild animal for a photo, unaware that the animal
has probably been captured for that very purpose. Some years ago a friend and I
travelled together and rode elephants and had our photos taken with lions and
tigers. I asked keepers about the welfare of the animals and allowed myself to
be convinced – but the queue of tourists in line waiting for a photo behind me
told a different story.
When I came home some online research revealed that the
places I’d visited were known for using techniques designed to “crush the
spirit” of elephants.
The good news is that awareness of such welfare
unfriendly practices is spreading.
World Animal Protection just teamed up with Oxford
University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit to release its report,
Checking Out of Cruelty. They found that globally, more than 550,000 animals
are suffering through irresponsible tourist attractions. Welfare and
conservation abuses are happening in 75% of tourist attractions included in the
study, with some of the worst venues being elephant, bear and tiger parks, and
a turtle farm.
Yet when they looked at reviews on Trip Advisor, 80 per
cent of tourists left positive reviews – even
though some observed that they had concerns about animal welfare. Some of
these facilities even received a Trip Advisor “Certificate of Excellence” based
on these reviews. Up to 4 million tourists per annum visit the attractions
assessed in the study. The authors predict that up to 110 million people
worldwide visit cruel attractions globally.
It isn’t because people don’t care. “We know that when
people are told about the cruelty behind such activities, most decide not to
go,” the report says.
Cruelty may involve the animals being “broken in”,
punishment, being kept in poor conditions (for example, chained up in an
enclosure with concrete floors), barren cages, poor nutrition (for example
caged civets are made to eat an unbalanced diet of coffee beans), body
modification (for example, de-fanging venomous snakes) and the stress of
handling. Apart from the latter, most of this happens behind-the-scenes.
So how do you know? According to the report, an authentic
wildlife tourism experiences will not allow contact or interactions between wild
animals and tourists.
It suggests avoiding
- Riding wild animals
- Swimming with captive wild animals
- Petting, holding or hugging wild animals
- Washing wild animals
- Keeping wild animals on a chain or leash
- Watching wild animals dance, play sport, perform tricks, give massages or paint pictures
In short, “If you can ride it, hug it, or have a selfie
with the wild animal, the chances are it’s a cruel venue. Don’t go.”
You can download the report here.