Tiger Has To Lose Its Fangs for Your Selfie
Lately, camper and bike-riding vacations are all the rage (a testament to changing lifestyles), but what hasn't changed is the toll our travels can exact on the vacation spots and their denizens during the holiday season. What's more, animals are suffering also.
An elephant show on Jeju Island. Courtesy of Hankyoreh News
"Dolphin Experience, Monkey Show, Elephant Show, Boar Show, Camel Rides..."
An elephant stage on the south side of Jeju. Almost 20 elephants appear for the show. When there's no performance, they carry visiting riders along a small oval path. There are the baby elephants only a few months old, as well as elderly ones with scars around their tender parts where a sharp, pointed bull hook was used to tame and train them. They shake their heads to and fro to the techno-music being blared out, do headstands on stools, turn hula hoops and play basketball. There's even a skit where an elephant dressed as a doctor comes to the rescue of a sick-acting one. Nowhere on the grounds is there evidence of what real elephants are like, but the audience remain oblivious. In fact, they dance along and throw coins at the elephants in ecstasy.
"Phajaan" or elephant crushing for crushing the baby elephant's spirit.
Mama elephant's sad tricks
Most of the elephants commissioned for trekking are trapped in the wild. In the process, mama elephants desperate to protect their babies are often shot and killed. It's unimaginably inhumane what takes place to make the elephants heed a man's commands. In order to get elephants to fear humans, they're placed in wooden traps called "phajaans" for a whole week, then poked with sharp metal poles, beaten with whips, starved and even deprived of sleep.
Thanks to indiscriminate hunting and development, the elephant population worldwide has fallen by more than 50% since the beginning of the 20th century and now, in Asia, only about 15% of its former habitat remains.
Animal abuse as a by-product that serves the tourism industry
But such problems aren't endemic to Jeju Island only. We come face to face with all kinds of animal abuse in our travels, including blatantly illegal bear farms where the bears' gall bladders are removed, but also circuses, animal shows, aquariums, photo ops with dangerous beasts such as lions and tigers, and animal-driven rides. Though we do not always witness the abuses firsthand, they exist as a by-product of the tourism industry. This kind of tourism is packaged as part of local culture exhibition, so most tourists have no idea what kind of hardships or sufferings these animals undergo behind the scenes.
This photo of Tiger Temple Thailand Tour is courtesy of TripAdvisor
A tourist poses with a live tiger at Thailand's Tiger Temple (c)"Tigertemple" by Dmitri1999 at en.wikipedia
"Fair Travel" and animals' five freedoms
Most of the vendors who make money using animals give you a sugarcoated answer such as, "These animals are well taken care of in good environments" so that people won't feel guilty about attending their shows. Sometimes they even claim that "part of the proceeds are used to help the animals." When you hear such a claim, it's helpful to know the "five basic animal freedoms" in regard to their welfare.
Tours that aspire to coexistence rather than exploitation
It's time to consider very carefully what coexistence means with regard to oneself and the local population. Coexistence between animals and me, between nature and me, coexistence that encompasses all living things and the individual traits of each one of them are what really makes travel worthwhile.
▶How To Become An Animal-Loving Humane Traveler
1. Decide on activities before beginning your travel.
2. Stay away from animal shows, animal photo ops, bullfights, etc. as well as animal-based products.
3. Do not eat wild animals or purchase so-called cultural goods made from them.
4. Be proactive.
The above was translated/edited from Korean.