Success! More than 100 travel companies commit to be elephant-friendly

As part of our Wildlife. Not Entertainers campaign, World Animal Protection has engaged with tour operators to highlight the hidden cruelty and abuse at venues where tourists ride elephants and see elephant shows.

More than 100 global companies have now agreed to no longer offer tours to venues with elephant rides and shows in any of their markets. Among these are many popular Canadian brands.

“Leading travel brands see the value of animal protection, with an overwhelming majority of people considering the mistreatment of wild animals for entertainment as unacceptable. It is a promising sign of change that so many industry players have greed there is no place for this elephant cruelty within their travel packages,” said Nicola Beynon, Head of Campaigns.

“In order to end elephant rides and shows we must curb the demand and end the availability for tourists to visit these attractions...we want to stop the cruelty of elephant rides and shows – and we’re also concerned about the welfare of animals already captive at these places.”

 “We’re working to find tour operators who are prepared to go the extra mile and invest in transforming existing elephant camps into humane, safe sanctuaries. If animals are unable to be released back to the wild we are working to ensure they are free to express natural behaviours.”

Despite this great achievement there are still a number of travel companies that have yet to commit to ending elephant rides and other cruel elephant entertainment.

Canadian travellers can help by pledging not to get taken for a ride while on holidays, seeing elephants in the wild and encouraging more companies to join our elephant-friendly movement.

See the list of elephant-friendly global travel companies.

“In order to end elephant rides and shows we must curb the demand and end the availability for tourists to visit these attractions.