Hands off our wildlife. #AnimalRightsInTourism

Please think before you book any experience with wild animals.

I would love to walk with elephants, pat a cheetah, feed a lion cub and interact with any young animal, but I won’t.

In too many cases, where there is any human interaction involved, it means the animals have been trained, fed, confined and dominated. Many animals endure extreme cruelty as they fight against the unnatural behaviour they are being forced into. Wild animals should never, ever be trained.

None of this is fun for the animals.

Please also think about what happens to the cute baby elephant or lion cub when it is too big, or no longer cute enough to be cuddled. It has no skills to cope in the wild, so the chances are it is sold to the canned hunting industry, or used to breed the next batch of cuties to entertain humans.

It is unreasonable to expect the equivalent of a NatGeo experience that took months to film, in the half day you have allocated, and in my experience, wild animals are just not into selfies.

There is a far greater sense of achievement going into a reserve with a trained guide and the hope and anticipation of what you might see. Wild animals doing what comes naturally on their own turf is a very humbling experience. Often, when you have to work  to earn the privilege, the experience is so much richer.

If you would like to learn more about the sad and harsh reality behind animal interactions, search these tags on any social media platforms.  #BloodLions   #BredForTheBullet  or go to https://twitter.com/Blood_Lions 

Please help us to end the demand for animal interactions by sharing, educating and spreading the word.