2018-07-24 09:43 - Saara Mowlana
South Africa's wildlife is a major draw-card for tourists - who are increasingly becoming more eco-conscious about the impact of their visit and the types of experiences they'd like to invest in.
Driving an important conservation narrative in South Africa is Fair Trade Tourism (FTT), who have just published its update Captive Wildlife Guidelines. They aim to assist the travel industry in making decisions about which captive wildlife facilities to support and which to avoid.
The Guidelines were developed following consultation with nearly 200 organisations as well as 40 publications.
The Guidelines are based on five pillars:
- legal compliance
- wildlife conservation
- animal welfare
- visitor safety and
- transparency
Some of the things that they discuss involve issues around specific wildlife species in captivity and the publication also includes a questionnaire to assist tour operators to successfully assess captive wildlife facilities themselves.
The species covered include:
- elephants
- lions
- cheetah
- wild dog
- dolphins and whales
- ostriches
- crocodiles
- primates and
- birds
The negative impact of tourists on captive wildlife
FTT says that global research, conducted by Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, indicates that up to four million tourists who visit captive wildlife attractions per year are contributing factors toward the abuse of animal welfare as well as the decline in species' conservation.
The research had also shown that 80% of these visitors and tourists are unaware of their negative impacts.
FFT Managing Director, Jane Edge, says that these issues around captive wildlife are firmly in the global spotlight and holds the potential to negatively brand South Africa.
"Many animal welfare groups are lobbying to have the captive wildlife industry shut down and this pressure is likely to grow. FTT recognises that the industry is here to stay but that good practice standards and guidelines are urgently needed to weed out dangerous or exploitative practices," she said.
She added that they encourage the tourism sector to use these newly released guidelines to make discerning choices, thereby helping to improve standards and the overall image of South Africa.
Edge explained that while the complex interplay between conservation, welfare, education research and employment had to be taken into account in assessing the captive wildlife sector, SA could not afford to deviate from global norms.
Edge had also mentioned some of the organisations and bodies they had consulted with to construct the guidelines and to ensure that they align with 'global good practice.'
"To ensure that our guidelines align with global good practice, we consulted widely with international wildlife conservation, responsible tourism and animal welfare bodies, however we have also taken into consideration the realities of the South African environment, however we also widely consulted local stakeholders regarding the particular operating environment in South Africa," Edge elaborated.
How to spot the good from the bad
Currently there are some measures in place that determine whether a captive wildlife organisation gets the FTT stamp of approval, and travellers can also use these when deciding which centre to visit and to donate to.
- Genuine wildlife sanctuaries care for un-releasable animals for the rest of their lives and no human interactions, breeding or trading occurs.
- Wildlife rehabilitation centres treat hurt or abandoned animals with the aim of releasing them back into the wild and have limited human interaction with experts and volunteers.
- There can be no physical interaction with large carnivores, elephants, rhinos, hippos, large primates, ostriches and venomous snakes. FTT does not define close interaction however as this differs too broadly between animals and activities, i.e. walking in a nature reserve to track cheetahs vs going into an enclosure with a tame lion.
- FTT does not approve of any facilities where there are performing wild animals, who are also sometimes used as photographic props.
- Elephant or ostrich back riding adversely affects animal welfare.
- Lion breeding is viewed as poor practice.
- Petting baby carnivores and other wild animals is also a no-go as there's normally a lack of transparency around where the babies come from and where they go when they are grown up.
- If wild animals at captive facilities are obtained from the wild, then be wary of that business. FTT has found that very few babies at elephant orphanages are truly abandoned in the wild and investigate in-depth before certifying these facilities.
- An organisation needs to be transparent about their activities regarding wild animals ie, a breeding farm could get FTT approval if they market themselves exactly as is.
- Although they certify certain types of zoos, there are restrictions in place, i.e. birds' wings can't be clipped and animals need to be free-roaming, like FFT-certified Birds of Eden and Monkeyland near Plettenberg Bay.
FTT not only operates in South Africa, but also certifies tourism businesses in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Madagascar, had mutual recognition agreements with other African certification programmes in Botswana, Namibia, Seychelles, Tanzania and Kenya.
https://www.traveller24.com/Explore/Gre ... s-20180724
SA gets access to new Fair Trade Captive Wildlife Guidelines
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SA gets access to new Fair Trade Captive Wildlife Guidelines
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