Clamping down on wildlife selfies

Planning to visit the Amazon? You might want to look at the controversy over wildlife selfies before choosing tours.

World Animal Protection, an advocacy group, issued a report saying animals such as sloths suffer when they’re kept in captivity for tourists to hold and photograph. Instagram is educating users about the issue by responding to hashtag searches such as #slothselfie with this warning: “You are searching for a hashtag that may be associated with posts that encourage harmful behaviour to animals or the environment.”

“We want tourists visiting the Amazon to know that if they care about wildlife, they should not use animals as photo props on their vacation,” World Animal Protection’s global wildlife adviser Neil D’Cruze said in an email interview. “The reality is that these ‘wildlife selfies of a lifetime’ actually involve significant animal suffering.”

He said animals presented to tourists have typically been pulled from natural habitats, are kept in “unsuitable conditions” and are handled by dozens of visitors a day, with tourists “typically unaware of the stress and injury” the creatures experience.

D’Cruze says the solution lies in educating travellers. He saluted Instagram’s animal selfie warning as well as efforts by TripAdvisor, which since 2016 has declined bookings for attractions where tourists come into physical contact with captive or wild animals. D’Cruze also said there’s “enormous potential” for developing tourism in the Amazon around alternatives like stays at jungle lodges or experiences with indigenous culture.

National Geographic reporter Natasha Daly said one challenge in steering tourists away from wildlife selfie encounters is that Amazon wildlife is elusive, and day trips where sloths, kinkajous and snakes are offered up for photos make it easy for visitors to see them. Staying in a jungle lodge for a few days is more expensive and takes more time and planning. Still, she said, educating consumers about these issues may affect their choices. “As soon as an activity crosses the line from observation to interaction, it’s probably going to be bad for the animal.”