The Do’s and Don’ts of Ethical Elephant Tourism in Asia

Elephant experiences are extremely popular tourist activities across Asia, especially in Thailand. From elephant bathing and riding to sanctuaries and safaris, there are many elephant tourism experiences, but not all are created equal. With tourist awareness of unethical practices growing, many are left questioning if it’s possible to see Asian elephants up close without causing harm. 

Travelers should research before booking to understand which activities to avoid and the practices of different operators and facilities. This blog unpacks what ethical versus unethical elephant tourism looks like and offers advice on picking an experience that aligns with your values.

The Role of Elephants in Asian History

Elephants have a deep-rooted presence in Asian culture and society. Revered for their intelligence, strength, and majesty, they have been central to religious symbolism, cultural traditions, and everyday life throughout history. 

In many Asian cultures, elephants are considered sacred. They are associated with royalty and often appear in temple art and Buddhist ceremonial processions. In Hinduism, the elephant god Ganesha is worshiped as the “Remover of Obstacles,” while Buddhist texts describe one of the Buddha’s past lives as an elephant. 

Beyond these ceremonial roles, elephants were historically used as working animals. There are 5,000-year-old records of the bond between working elephants and their mahouts, or trainers and caretakers. In ancient Asia, elephant training, riding, and handling skills were passed from father to son. Owning an elephant has historically symbolized status and prestige for those who could afford their care.

In ancient times, war elephants were armored and used to charge enemy forces and carry soldiers. War elephants were a strategic asset in battles across the Asian continent until the late 1800s when machines became more efficient than cavalry. In addition to warfare, elephants were used by kings to haul heavy materials for the construction of temples, palaces, and other structures. In Cambodia, for instance, up to 6,000 elephants were used to transport massive stone blocks to build Angkor Wat.

In recent centuries, elephants’ strength and ability to navigate dense forests made them indispensable for industries requiring heavy lifting in rugged and remote areas. They were used in logging and agriculture to transport timber, maneuver large logs through difficult terrain, and plow fields. In the process, humans directed elephants to unknowingly contribute to the destruction of their forest homes. Extensive deforestation and habitat fragmentation, driven by human activities beyond this, along with resulting human-wildlife conflicts, have been primary drivers of the Asian elephant’s endangerment.

The Evolution of Elephant Tourism in Asia

In 1989, Thailand officially banned logging to protect its remaining forests. The industry’s sudden collapse left nearly 70% of working elephants unemployed. Their mahouts found themselves with no income, and the elephant’s owners struggled with the financial burden of caring for the massive animals. “It costs an exorbitant amount to feed an elephant,” said Paul Pruangkarn, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)’s Chief of Staff, “So, what are you going to do with elephants?” The elephants could not be re-released into the wild after depending on humans, so many turned to tourism to offset the cost of their care. Today, nearly 75% of captive Asian elephants work in tourism. Many mahouts also transitioned into tourism careers at elephant-centric attractions. 

Tourists’ fascination with elephants translated to $581 million to $770 million of yearly revenue in Thailand alone in 2019. With high demand for these experiences comes an increased need for captive elephants. According to World Animal Protection, the overall number of captive elephants used in tourism increased by 70% in the last 10 years. Today, Thailand, where most elephant tourism activities are sold, has more captive elephants than elephants remaining in the wild.

Elephant attractions are increasing in popularity. A 2019 survey revealed that 42% of the tourists looking for captive wildlife experiences seek these opportunities because they love animals, but many unknowingly cause harm. Increased traveler awareness of the darker side of elephant tourism has prompted tourists and travel companies alike to think before they book an elephant experience.

Types of Elephant Tourism & Ethical Concerns

There are a few types of elephant tourist experiences in Asia: direct interaction and shows, elephant art and products, captive elephant observation, voluntourism, and wild elephant watching. We will unpack each option and its ethical considerations to help you make more informed travel decisions.

Elephant Riding, Bathing, Shows, and Other Interactive Experiences

Interactive elephant experiences like riding, bathing, and posing for selfies may appear benign, but there is often a history of harm behind these activities. World Animal Protection’s Senior Campaigns Manager, Liz Cabrera Holtz, warns that “making elephants engage in unnatural activities, like being bathed by a human or being painted on, requires intensive abusive training.”

It is estimated that 75% of captive elephants used for tourism experiences across Asia have been captured from the wild. Wild animals can be “broken” into submission but will not become domesticated in their lifetimes. Although the capture of wild elephants is now illegal in many countries, the practice continues in some regions due to demand, especially for the tourism sector.

How Are Elephants Trained to Interact with Tourists?

The elephant training process usually starts shortly after birth. Elephant babies are separated from their mothers, causing psychological damage for both mother and baby. Once isolated, baby elephants are forced to learn tricks and unnatural behaviors using physical punishment in a process known as “the crush.” This can include the use of chains, ropes, confinement in small cages, or bullhooks to break the calf’s spirit so it obeys humans. Such conditioning is not limited to calves; adult elephants taken from the wild are also subjected to this harsh ‘breaking’ process.

In addition to teaching elephants to engage in performance choreography, tourist riding and bathing, or other gimmicks, mahouts who work with tourism elephants to teach them skills necessary for their health and safety. This includes maneuvering safely through their enclosures and holding still for veterinary care. In cases like these, there is a more ethical alternative called Protective Contact, where trainers stand behind a barrier and guide movements verbally, using food rewards. Trainers keep a distance from the animal, allowing them to choose whether or not they would like to engage in the behavior.

While elephant shows or up-close experiences may be presented as a cultural activity, these interactions indicate how the traditional roles of elephants have changed to meet tourist demand. Instead of dragging logs, elephants now perform tricks like balancing on balls. Avoiding elephant shows and direct interaction is the best way to celebrate elephants’ cultural significance without unintentionally perpetuating the “crush” training method. 

Why Elephant Bathing and Riding is Harmful

Direct tourist interactions like bathing and riding can detrimentally affect elephants. For elephants, bathing is more than just cleaning their skin. It establishes herd social dynamics and helps individuals bond. When humans get involved, it disrupts these behaviors and stresses the herd. While washing an elephant may appear helpful, the best way to bathe an elephant is to let it bathe itself. In the wild, elephants choose when and how long they want to bathe. Afterward, they coat themselves in mud or dirt as a natural sunscreen and insect repellent. However, many tourist venues force elephants to wash multiple times daily to accommodate paying visitors. This repeated bathing can damage elephants’ skin, leading to disease, and leaves them little time to apply protective layers.

Elephant riding can also damage elephants’ bodies. Sumanth Bindumadhav, Director of Wildlife Protection at Humane Society International (HSI) – India, explains that elephants “are forced to wear heavy ‘elephant saddles’ on their back which can cause pressure sores, on which a tourist would sit, plus a mahout sitting on the elephant’s neck. In some cases, these elephants can be ridden like this for around eight hours a day, creating a continuous pressure on their back.” This pressure can cause spinal deformities later in life. Bindumadhav said, “Although elephants are very large creatures…their backs are not very strong.” 

Some camps work elephants all day without breaks, deny them food or water, chain them whenever they’re not giving rides, or force sick or injured elephants to continue working. The impact on elephants extends beyond physical trauma – poor welfare conditions and harsh training methods also take a significant toll on their psychological well-being. 

Asian elephant conservationist Sangduen “Lek” Chailert recalls visiting camps in Thailand where she saw “many blind or lame elephants with broken legs still transporting people.” She explained that witnessing these exploitative conditions inspired her to establish Elephant Nature Park to rescue elephants from such cruelty. 

Baby Elephants and Breeding

Advertisements for experiences with baby elephants indicate unethical elephant facilities. Interacting with an unaccompanied baby elephant is only possible if it has been separated from its mother, causing stress. Some venues even stage bottle-feeding sessions, prioritizing visitor amusement over elephant welfare. This practice encourages captive breeding to produce baby elephants for tourism that will never be able to return to their natural habitat. Breeding elephants in captivity is only appropriate if it occurs naturally or supports reintroduction into the wild, a challenging process since most captive-born babies lack survival skills. When males and females live together, natural breeding allows them to behave as they would in the wild, but it should never be forced unless it directly aids the conservation of the species.

Is it Okay for Tourists to Feed Captive Elephants?

In the wild, elephants forage for diverse vegetation to meet their nutritional needs. However, overfeeding and poor diet choices in tourist venues can lead to health problems, while constant human interaction can cause stress. To improve their well-being, elephants should be given nutritious food that closely mimics their natural diet and close-contact feeding should not be allowed. 

Are Elephant-Tourist Interactions Safe? 

 According to World Animal Protection, more people are severely injured or killed by elephants than any other captive animal. Regardless of how long they’ve been in captivity, elephants have never been domesticated. Like any wild animal, elephants are unpredictable and can be dangerous to people. Each individual has a unique personality and behaves according to its temperament. Even non-aggressive elephants can unintentionally cause serious injuries simply due to their size if they step on, sit on, or bump into someone. Additionally, touching an elephant can pose health risks, as at least 12 diseases are known to spread between elephants and humans. Given the potential for physical harm and disease transmission, keeping a safe distance from elephants is the best way to enjoy your experience.

Elephant Art and Products

Some elephant tourism experiences involve elephants in creating art, products, or handicrafts, which can raise important ethical considerations. A well-known example is elephant painting, where elephants are trained to use brushes to create paintings for entertainment and sale. While this is often marketed as a creative and captivating activity, it’s important to remember that elephants would never naturally paint pictures in the wild – this behavior is learned through intensive training.

In contrast, elephant dung paper-making experiences don’t require elephants to perform any unnatural behaviors. The paper is made from the fiber-rich dung that elephants naturally produce. Tourists can participate in the process, learning how the dung is boiled, sterilized, and turned into pulp, which is then pressed into sheets of paper. The primary ethical concern lies in the overall treatment and care of the elephants at the facility where the dung is collected. As long as the elephants are kept in a humane environment and properly cared for, these paper-making experiences offer an ethical and engaging alternative to exploitative activities.

The same logic applies to other elephant-related products. Whether it’s art, souvenirs, or novelty items, their creation should not compromise the elephants’ well-being. Any process that forces unnatural behaviors, incentivizes poaching, or subjects elephants to poor conditions for profit should be seen as a red flag.

Captive Elephant Observation

Observing captive elephants is another popular activity. While these types of experiences often market themselves as more ethical, things are not always as they seem. Ethical concerns with captive elephant observation include inadequate habitat size, overfeeding, and unnecessary chain use. 

Elephants are foragers and roam large distances in the wild. Elephants in observation-only facilities may be kept in small pens to make them easy to spot, but this prevents them from getting the exercise required to stay healthy. Small habitats combined with frequent feeding can result in animal obesity, which leads to health problems that restrict an elephant’s mobility and shorten its lifespan. World Animal Protection recommends that captive Asian elephants have between 200 and 2,000+ square meters to roam. 

Ethical observation facilities provide a safe, humane environment where elephants can live out their lives. At these venues, tourist dollars support the lifelong care of elephants that cannot return to the wild. 

Some facilities, like Elephant Nature Park, rescue elephants from cruel conditions like roadside attractions where they were constantly chained or forced to work long hours. Chailert, the park’s owner, strives to give these elephants as natural a life as possible, ensuring they are integrated into a new herd because “no one can heal them as quickly as they can heal each other.” 

The freedom to interact is crucial for elephants. “Elephants are self-aware and highly intelligent, and so they need to be able to make choices about what they do, where they go, what they eat, and who they interact with,” said Audrey Delsink, Director of Wildlife at HSI – Africa.

During an ethical elephant experience, visitors can expect to witness elephants engaging in natural behaviors, free from forced performances or interactions. For instance, tours at the 3,700-acre (1,500-hectare) Elephant Valley Project in Cambodia involve guided hikes into the jungle where visitors can observe the resident elephants as they graze, play, and wander their forest home. These tours are educational, with Indigenous guides providing valuable insights into the elephants’ lives and their connection to the Bunong culture.

While chains may be used under certain scenarios to ensure elephant and human safety, they are not ideal and should not be a default practice. Instead, other protective measures like perimeter patrols and specialized fencing should be used when feasible. However, some venues, like those in areas with rough terrain or limited resources, lack adequate fencing and must resort to chaining elephants at night to prevent them from damaging property or endangering people. Elephants should only be chained during the day if they are males in musth, a period of hormonal supercharge that causes severe aggression. Aside from this, elephants should never be chained for more than 8 hours, equivalent to an overnight period. Chains should fit comfortably to prevent skin damage and be long enough to allow the elephant to lie down, stand up, and move around comfortably. 

Voluntourism

Many animal lovers want to feel like their visit to an elephant facility made a difference beyond financial support. Some companies sell voluntourism experiences with a service component to satisfy this desire to do good. 

Some locations advertise activities like touching elephants as a volunteer experience but don’t be fooled by this label. Any experience where you touch or bathe an elephant is a visitor attraction. At ethical elephant venues, only trained staff and veterinarians touch elephants to administer medical care, and visitors are only allowed to engage in activities for which they are qualified. For example, volunteers at the Elephant Valley Project in Cambodia help with tasks such as maintaining trails, reforestation, and small building projects like digging trenches or constructing water towers. 

A good voluntourism experience supports local employees rather than taking their jobs. Programs should always require volunteers to pay a fee to help fund the elephant’s care and employ local workers for skilled positions. At Elephant Valley Project, volunteer and tour fees enable the program to employ 48 Indigenous Bunong people and cover healthcare costs for 2,000+ community members.

Wild Elephant Watching

Nilanga Jayasinghe, World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Manager for Asian Species Conservation, recommends watching elephants in the wild for an enriching experience. She advises tourists to “enjoy the experience of observing them in their natural habitat.”

The most common way to see elephants in their natural environment is on a guided jeep safari. Trained guides educate guests about the elephants’ lives, habitat, and conservation status as they observe the majestic animals. In addition to jeep safaris, some companies lead tourists through the forest with a guide to observe elephants from a safe distance. 

Fees paid by visitors and tourism operators provide critical funding for protected areas, enabling essential conservation efforts to preserve vulnerable elephant habitats. Protected areas are not just working to protect wild elephants. Organizations like WWF help local communities create ethical ecotourism experiences that benefit people and wildlife in ecosystems like Thailand’s Kui Buri National Park. Creating a system where locals and elephants mutually benefit from healthy herds improves the chances that elephants will live in the park for generations. 

While fewer ethical concerns are associated with viewing wild elephants, it is important to research before booking an elephant safari. For example, companies that allow visitors to feed or touch wild elephants do not run ethical operations. Disturbances to wildlife can also occur if vehicles or walking groups get too close to an elephant. This poses safety risks for tourists, as outrunning a charging elephant is impossible. Elephants often display signs of stress or agitation, making it essential to travel with knowledgeable drivers and guides who monitor the elephants’ behavior to recognize warning signs. High numbers of vehicles or tourists in an area also cause stress to elephant herds, which can greatly diminish the quality of your experience and potentially become dangerous if a stressed elephant decides to charge to defend its herd.

Ethical Elephant Tourism Do’s and Don’ts

At Sustainable Travel International, we define an ethical elephant experience as one in which no interaction disrupts the elephant’s natural behavior and where the elephant’s environment supports both its physical and psychological well-being. We’ve outlined a series of do’s and don’ts below to help you make informed travel decisions. Click here to download our quick reference cheat sheet for easy guidance.

• DO read information and reviews about the elephant tourism experience before you visit to make sure the business practices what it preaches. Researching facilities and operators before you travel is the best way to find an ethical elephant experience. Read reviews, check photos from other travelers, and verify that the business practices what it promotes. Feel free to call and ask questions if you want to learn more about their practices.
• DO book with companies that communicate their animal welfare standards. Companies that communicate their animal welfare standards are more likely to sell ethical experiences. For example, Airbnb and TripAdvisor openly publish their welfare policies.
• DO look for certifications or endorsements from reputable animal welfare organizations. When looking for an ethical experience, check recommendations from reputable organizations like World Animal Protection and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS). These organizations have evaluation processes that determine whether a business is ethical but remember that just because a business is not certified does not mean it isn’t working towards more sustainable practices.
• DO choose activities where elephants behave as they would in the wild. Without tourist interference, elephants play, splash in water, or forage for food. Choose a wild or captive experience that lets elephants engage in these natural behaviors, allowing you to witness elephants being elephants for a trip you won’t forget.

• DO keep your distance and leave no trace when viewing wild elephants. Your behavior on a safari can protect elephants. On a guided hike, stay on trails and avoid blocking an elephant’s path. In addition, following the leave-no-trace principle prevents your party from impacting fragile areas. Opt for safari operators that maintain respectful distances from elephants and avoid those that advertise that guides bring elephants close to your group. Interacting with wild animals can be dangerous. Staying in a vehicle throughout your jeep tour and never attempting to touch or feed wildlife keeps you and the elephants safe. Jayasinghe notes that feeding wild animals habituates them to people, contributing to human-wildlife conflict. She mentions that “it is really important that you don’t get them used to behaviors like [feeding] so they stay wild” and “we stay safe.”
• DO take a guided elephant tour. Never attempt to approach wild elephants alone. A guided elephant tour is safer than looking for elephants alone. Your tour guide is not just there to locate elephants and educate you about their habitats, conservation challenges, and behavior – they are trained to help you enjoy your experience safely.
• DO travel in smaller groups or participate in tours that limit the number of people to minimize disturbances to the elephants. Loud noises and overwhelming amounts of attempted interaction can be stressful for elephants. Opt for operators that keep group sizes small, limit the number of vehicles, and minimize time spent at any one location. The smaller your group is, the more personal your experience with these animals will be. It’s a win-win.
• DO support initiatives that contribute to habitat preservation, anti-poaching efforts, and human-wildlife coexistence. Supporting initiatives that enhance wild elephant protection is vital to ensuring this species’ survival. Tourists and travel companies can help fund these efforts by visiting protected areas, donating to reputable conservation organizations, or purchasing carbon offsets from projects like Keo Seima that safeguard wild elephants and their habitats. One of the ways the Keo Seima project reduces deforestation and human-wildlife conflict is by funding local ecotourism enterprises, such as the Elephant Valley Project and a gibbon-focused ecolodge, which provide sustainable livelihoods for local communities. When choosing a captive elephant experience, look for those that contribute a portion of their profits to wild elephant conservation. For example, the Elephant Valley Project funds patrols that protect the forest bordering the elephant sanctuary, which is home to around a quarter of Cambodia’s remaining wild elephant population.

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• DO ask about the elephants’ backgrounds and where they came from to avoid supporting the elephant trade.  Many tourist attractions rescued their elephants from the logging industry or unethical elephant camps, but this isn’t always the case. Elephants are still taken from the wild and sold by traffickers to tourist attractions. It is important to check where captive elephants come from to prevent accidental support of the elephant trade. Choose providers that share each elephant’s story on their website and check other sources to make sure their claims aren’t disputed.
• DO share your knowledge and experiences with others to promote responsible elephant tourism practices. Talking to your loved ones about elephant conservation helps to increase the number of informed tourists working to stop animal cruelty. Additionally, leaving reviews of ethical and unethical operators helps make it easier for fellow travelers to support responsible businesses. Sharing feedback directly with tour operators or elephant facilities highlights shifting visitor expectations, encouraging them to adopt more sustainable practices.
• DO choose experiences that support local jobs and communities. When local people reap the benefits of ethical elephant tourism, they are more likely to see the value of sustainable practices and the conservation of wild elephant populations. Ethical elephant tourism provides steady income and employment as an alternative to elephant capture, poaching, or unsustainable logging, all of which endanger elephants. Tourists should participate in elephant experiences that hire locally and choose travel companies that prioritize local suppliers.
• DON’T engage in activities involving direct interactions with elephants, such as riding, bathing, swimming with, or touching them. Direct interaction with elephants requires intensive and abusive training to ensure safe interaction between elephants and people. These activities benefit tourists at the expense of elephants’ physical and mental well-being. Interaction-free elephant venues provide less stressful experiences for elephants and people, offering an unforgettable opportunity to witness elephants’ natural behavior.
• DON’T participate in elephant experiences that involve unnatural behaviors such as tricks or shows. Repetition of unnatural tricks like standing on the front legs can lead to health problems. The more complicated an elephant show is, the more strenuous training elephants have endured.

• DON’T visit attractions that use abusive training methods such as “the crush,” bullhooks, chains, clubs, mother-calf separation, and ropes. Caretakers should never inflict pain upon their animals by using whips, bullhooks, or other devices. While bullhooks may be carried at all times in the case of an emergency, they should not be used to beat or jab an elephant for regular disciplinary action. Ethical facilities never use fear to motivate good behavior. Mothers and babies should not be separated within the first three years of a calf’s life to prevent psychological damage and developmental delays.
• DON’T visit facilities that keep elephants in poor conditions, such as cramped or unsanitary enclosures, day chains, concrete-only floors, and solitary confinement. Elephants should always have access to water and at least 300 kg of food per day. They should be kept in ideal temperatures, have access to shade, and walk on non-concrete surfaces to prevent foot injury. Elephants should be able to wash themselves with dirt, water, or mud at any time so their skin stays clean and protected from the sun. Facilities should keep elephant enclosures clean and monitor their health to prevent disease. Elephants should always have access to veterinary care when they need it. They should have everything they need to express natural behaviors like bathing, foraging, and walking long distances.
• DON’T shout, clap, or make sudden loud noises around elephants. Loud noises, such as applause, can trigger an elephant’s fight or flight response, which can be dangerous for both the animal and visitors. Speak quietly and minimize noise when viewing wildlife.
• DON’T interact with elephants brought into tourist areas. Unethical elephant tourism extends beyond organized facilities and excursions. Elephants are sometimes brought into restaurants, bars, or tourist spots where handlers sell photo opportunities, banana feedings, or other casual interactions. These encounters often involve baby elephants separated from their mothers, exposed to loud, chaotic environments, and forced to walk on hard surfaces. Though their cuteness may be tempting, saying no to these interactions helps protect their well-being. If possible, report any perceived animal cruelty to local authorities or animal welfare organizations, such as Wildlife Friends Foundation.
• DON’T assume that facilities with “sanctuary” in their name are ethical. Some companies mislead tourists into thinking they are ethical when they are not. The more you investigate before choosing an elephant activity, the more likely you are to be satisfied with the experience.

Supporting Elephant Tourism’s Transition Towards an Ethical Future

Some tourists boycott elephant tourism altogether, thinking this prevents unethical elephant tourism from expanding by lowering consumer demand. The thought behind this decision comes with good intentions but can have negative consequences. 

Pruangkarn, explains that “local communities depend on the revenue generated from elephants in tourism.” Elephant care is expensive, and, without tourism revenue, venues face difficult decisions. He pointed out that “it’s not easy to feed an elephant, and you can’t just let them loose and run around.” The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how communities and elephants suffered when tourism revenue dwindled, leaving local livelihoods in jeopardy and elephants on the brink of starvation. Chailert described the unique challenges elephant facilities faced during the tourism shutdown due to costs associated with elephant feeding and care, explaining they couldn’t just “turn off the water” because “elephants drink 200 liters a day.” Elephant tourism can also help conserve the endangered species through habitat protection, sustainable livelihoods, and awareness raising.

Rather than boycotting all elephant tourism, tourists should support operations that uphold ethical standards. This puts positive pressure on camps to transition to better practices. 

Travel companies can facilitate this by selling ethical activities. By pre-vetting and scouting ethical attractions for their clients, companies can take the guesswork out of booking an ethical tourism experience. Before promoting a trip, companies can send representatives to inspect venues and verify their practices. This extra step reassures clients and empowers travel advisors to recommend experiences confidently. Resources such as the list published by World Animal Protection or PATA’s Responsible Elephant Tourism course can further assist travel companies in sourcing ethical activities. By prioritizing venues that meet high standards, travel companies can pressure unethical attractions to reform their practices to compete for valuable contracts.

It’s important to recognize that adopting better practices can take years. Transitioning the tourism industry to more sustainable practices is a journey that requires effort, continuous learning, and collaboration from both tourists and tour operators. Tourists and travel companies can help accelerate this process by supporting venues in transition and donating funding for employee training, expanded enclosures, improved infrastructure, or better veterinary care. For example, TUI, Intrepid, G Adventures, the Travel Corporation, and other industry leaders supported ChangChill’s transformation into an elephant-friendly venue. Encouraging a shift toward more ethical practices can also involve rewarding or promoting companies adopting ethical elephant standards. 

Tourists and travel companies have the power to influence others by raising awareness of the issues and promoting best practices. Chailert explained that she doesn’t blame tourists for engaging in unethical animal experiences “because they didn’t know. But when they know better, they do better.” By using and sharing our Elephant Tourism Do’s and Don’ts list and wildlife tourism blogs, you can be part of that change, sparking meaningful conversations about animal welfare and empowering others to make informed, elephant-friendly decisions. 

Together, we can ensure tourism protects, rather than harms, the animals and environments we treasure. Voice your commitment to a more sustainable future for travel by signing our Travel Better pledge and joining our mailing list for more responsible tourism guidance and tips.