Celebrating World Animal Day
World Animal Day helps bring people together to increase awareness and improve education worldwide so animals can live the lives they deserve.
Whether taken from the wild or bred in captivity, elephants exploited for entertainment can suffer through constant restraint on chains, lack of social interaction with other elephants, inadequate diet, and demanding or even damaging activities that lead to stress and health problems. An example of elephant exploitation for the tourism industry is elephant rides in parts of Asia.
We focus on educating tourists, reducing demand for cruel entertainment, moving the travel industry to protect elephants, and promoting sustainable solutions. Elephants belong in the wild. But sadly, after years of captivity, it is very often not possible to release captive elephants into the wild. In these cases, alternative solutions need to be found where elephants’ physical and psychological needs are met.
We have helped two elephant entertainment venues in Thailand, Following Giants and ChangChill, to transition into elephant-friendly venues. Visitors can respectfully observe elephants from a distance and learn about them, but there is no direct interaction. Elephants can just be elephants.
Photo: Jittrapon Kaicome / World Animal Protection | Mae Gorgae (left), an elephant rescued from a hard life working in both the logging and tourism industries. She now lives her life in peace at ChangChill with her daughter Mayura (right).
Thousands of tigers across the world are captured and bred for profit. They are exploited as exotic pets, in entertainment, and for traditional medicine. Instead of living free in their natural habitats, many captive tigers live lonely and miserable existences. This is even more heart-breaking to think of as wild tiger populations decline.
World Animal Protection is dedicated to making this the last generation of tigers to suffer in captivity, and to promoting the protection of wild tigers. Tigers, like all wild animals, belong in the wild. We educate the public, work with travel corporations to end the exploitation of wild animals for entertainment, and lobby to end the global wildlife trade.
Photo: World Animal Protection | A captive tiger with their teeth clipped, chained up, and forced to pose for tourist photos.
Annually, 80 billion land animals, including chickens, pigs, and cows, are used for farming. It is estimated that 56 billion are trapped in factory farming systems. This vast number does not even include the billions of aquatic animals who are locked in underwater factories, out of sight and very much out of mind.
On factory farms animals live in unnatural environments and endure needless and extreme psychological and physical suffering. Wild animals’ habitats are also destroyed to grow crops to feed billions of farmed animals. Factory farming is a global issue and only with a global solution can animals be safeguarded, and their welfare improved.
Our vision is a world where respect for animals and nature sits at the heart of our food system, which is equitable, sustainable, resilient, and capable of feeding the world. We will move millions of people by raising awareness of the catastrophic impacts of factory farming on animals, the environment, and human health. Many consumers, governments and corporations are already joining this movement, influenced by our campaigns to end cruelty inherent in factory farming.
Photo: WSPA/i.c.productions | Chickens at a high-welfare farm where they have access to outdoor pastures and are able to display natural behaviours such as foraging and dust bathing.
Sadly, there are currently around 3,000 whales and dolphins held captive in zoos, aquaria, or marine parks around the world. They are often separated from their mothers too young, confined to tanks much smaller than their natural habitat, and can be deprived of food for training purposes, which causes them constant stress and suffering. They are miserable and endure a harsh reality in the name of entertainment, which can even lead to them expressing self-harming behaviours.
Thankfully, there are Whale Heritage Sites that encourage collaboration between communities and conservation projects to protect whales and dolphins. Whale Heritage Sites are a global accreditation scheme, developed by the World Cetacean Alliance and supported by World Animal Protection, that recognize a community´s commitment to celebrate whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans. These sites give tourists a transparent and easy way to select responsible whale and dolphin watching holiday destinations, encouraging them to experience these incredible animals in their natural habitat, in an authentic and respectful way.
Photo: Raggy Charters | Wild dolphins being observed in an authentic and respectful way in Algoa Bay, a Whale Heritage Site in South Africa.
