Rarely do we consider how an animal came to be in an establishment - rarely do we question the label “sanctuary”, or look at how the animal was “captured” “bred” or “bought”.
This is a topic very close to my heart, and one that deeply saddens me. With all the research available online and through a variety of other channels, notwithstanding the amount of campaigns by organisations that are doing their small bit to help advocate an end to these unsustainable and often cruel practices, some people still insist on having photos with wildlife, going to places like tiger kingdom, riding on elephants, walking with lions etc.
Rarely do they consider how that animal came to that establishment, rarely do they question the label “sanctuary” and rarely do they look at how the animal was “trained”, ”subdued”, ”drugged”, “bred”, “procured”, “cared for” in order for you to have your 5 second “cute” photo or an exotic pet.
Tiger kingdom, a controversial establishment, that not only allows tourists to pet and take photos of caged tigers and captive bred tigers, they also notoriously sell tiger products (such as tiger bone, claws, baby tigers for tiger wine, tiger skins, etc.) to high paying buyers.
This information was and is freely available online, and a number of articles have been published exposing the “undercover” acts of these establishments (National Geographic), yet despite one closing, many more still exist.
Every time I visit Chang Mai, the tourists I meet are heading for or have been on a package deal of elephant day trekking and tiger kingdom visits. When I question their support and desire to exploit these animals or support this illegal trade, they often respond with something along the lines of that one place being a sanctuary, or not as bad as the one that closed. I am baffled that despite my discussions with them explaining experience in counter trafficking and conservation, providing information and online articles about the reality of these trades – that they still go. There are, of course, a few exceptions.
Orangutans are being cut out of their habitats all over Asia, largely due to the expansion of animal agriculture and palm oil plantations. Whilst working for an NGO based in Thailand (Freeland), who specialise in counter wildlife trafficking (tracking down syndicate crime groups in order to track and dismantle king pin gang leaders involved in these elicit trades) a big bust on two baby orangutans was conducted. Two babies were trafficked across the border and collected by a taxi, to be delivered to a high paying buyer in Bangkok.
I want to highlight this issue and demonstrate how easy it is to simply transport 2 baby orangutans so openly - in the back seat of a taxi across Thailand - and that there is a demand for baby orangutans as pets. What is likely is that they would either have been for a private collector, zoo, or other tourist trap, and / or used for glorified selfies. The very sad thing is that they would have been stolen from their mothers, (who are usually killed in order to get to the babies), in their natural habitat, torn away by the poachers and sold on to a life that will most certainly be cruel and a far stretch from their natural habitat. The trauma these animals experience alone should be enough to deter people from supporting this trade.
Aside from the more obvious purpose of the exotic pet trade in this form of tourism, exotic animals are also purchased for private collections, fuelling a lucrative illegal trade industry.
The IUCN red listing is a good place to review the status of any wildlife you may encounter and think may need to be reported to the authorities. Sadly many animals are trafficked (illegally taken and transported across borders) to the highest bidder. Interpol have published various case studies of examples of trafficking incidents, one of the most troubling I have seen while developing resources for Counter Trafficking education materials for airlines, was humming birds being stitched into a man's underwear. I saw with my own eyes the extent of a huge pangolin scale bust (3 tons) in Thailand and the sad fact that those scales once represented a significant portion of the African pangolin population.
CLICK AND COLLECT (ILLEGAL TRADE ONLINE)
The exotic pet trade is already online – but now it’s bigger and nastier than before. All wildlife that is exported or bred for sale should be approved and certified with CITES. All breeders should be registered, all their wildlife should align with CITES and IUCN specifications. It’s a simple process really, but there are so many loop holes, there is so much corruption, that sometimes this very sad and growing industry seems like the tip of a very large criminal iceberg.
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