The SATSA Decision Making Tool gives people six questions to guide them into making the right decision about whether or not to support a facility that is caring for captive wildlife.

The tool interrogates issues such as:

1. Where did the animals come from?
2. What happens to the animals whilst in captivity?
3. What is the likely destiny of the animals?

The safest way to ensure your wildlife activity is ethical is to keep it wild.

Rather experience lions and other iconic species in their natural habitat by choosing to visit one of the many reserves and national parks that South Africa has to offer.

#ThinkBeforeYouGo

#ThinkBeforeYouGo: For any wild animal, having a human ride or sit on it’s back, is contrary to their natural behaviour and would not be in the best interests of the animal.

Even though elephants, for example, are strong animals, they are not designed to carry weight on their backs, which can cause injury to their spine.

Why avoid riding of wild animals?

1. There is unnecessary hands-on training and handling involved
2. The animals don’t have freedom of choice
3. The animals are forced to exhibit unnatural behaviour
4. It serves no educational value
5. It serves no conservation value

In many cases the animal would need to be trained to accept humans on their backs. These training techniques frequently involve negative reinforcement and even cruel methods that are often harmful to the animal.

#ThinkBeforeYouGo

#ThinkBeforeYouGo: Predators are dangerous animals that can inflict serious injury to humans, especially during stressful and unnatural activities that put them in close proximity to humans.

Why avoid tactile interactions with predators and cetaceans?

1. It can be dangerous for humans
2. There is unnecessary hands-on training and handling involved
3. The animals don’t have freedom of choice
4. The animals are forced to exhibit unnatural behaviour
5. It serves no educational value
6. It serves no conservation value

It is unnatural and unethical for predators and cetaceans to interact with humans and these activities can be extremely stressful for these animals.

In addition, the training and handling techniques frequently used can be harmful and indicate that these types of interactions are not in the best interest of the animals.

#ThinkBeforeYouGo

#ThinkBeforeYouGo: The training and handling techniques used to train wild animals to walk alongside humans are frequently harmful to the animals involved.

Why avoid walking with predators or elephants?

1. The animals don’t have freedom of choice
2. There is unnecessary hands-on training and handling involved
3. The animals are forced to exhibit unnatural behaviour
4. It serves no educational value
5. It serves no conservation value

If you are considering walking with wild animals such as elephants, lions and cheetahs – don’t.

It is an unnatural activity for these animals and many are forced to go through intense and often cruel training to learn to behave around paying tourists and volunteers.

#ThinkBeforeYouGo

#ThinkBeforeYouGo: If you are given the opportunity to touch, hold, feed or play with a wild baby animal in captivity in any shape or form, the activity is unethical according to the SATSA guidelines and should be avoided.

Why avoid tactile interactions with infant wildlife?

1. Infants are removed from their mothers prematurely
2. The animals don’t have freedom of choice
3. The animals are forced to exhibit unnatural behaviour
4. It serves no educational value
5. It serves no conservation value

Removing infant animals from their mothers prematurely is extremely stressful, unnatural for both the mother and the infant, and can lead to long-term health issues. It is not in the animal’s best interest to remove an infant from its mothers for human gratification.

Wild animals are naturally fearful of humans and any tactile interaction between a wild infant animal and a human is unethical.

#ThinkBeforeYouGo

The first one of five groups of captive wildlife activities to AVOID, as highlighted by the SATSA guidelines, is supporting facilities which keep and/or profit from performing animals.

Why avoid activities with performing animals?

1. The animals don’t have freedom of choice
2. There is unnecessary hands-on training and handling involved
3. The animals are forced to exhibit unnatural behaviour
4. It serves no educational value
5. It serves no conservation value.

In order to perform in a public show or display, the animal would have undergone some form of training, often involving corporal punishment, tethering and/or food deprivation.

Performing animals may include: elephants, predators, primates, cetaceans (aquatic mammals such as dolphins and whales), birds and reptiles.

The SATSA Guidelines and Decision Making Tool were created around an ethical framework with an African approach, which recognises the importance of Ubuntu and the relationship between animals, the environment in which they live, and their connection to humans.

The guidelines state that “the interests of animals should not be subordinate to the benefits humans derive from their existence”. Meaning, if a captive wildlife facility clearly prioritises human interest(s) (which can be financial, gratification, entertainment, information) over the animal’s wellbeing, it can immediately be considered unethical.

Which captive wildlife tourism activities would you say can immediately be deemed as unethical, and which are in the grey area for you? These are questions that are often not easy to answer and may be different for many of you. SATSA created their guidelines and tool to make these decisions easier and more objective.

In 2019, SATSA drew a firm line in the sand concerning captive wildlife attractions in South Africa’s tourism space, which is a dynamic concept based on ethics.

They identified activities with captive wildlife to avoid, such as wildlife interactions and circuses, which also included captive breeding of big cats, canned hunting and the trade in animal body parts.

Their stance is also aligned with the High-Level Panel sentiments that were recently published in a draft Policy Position paper by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

Join us over the next few weeks as we dive deeper into the world of ethics and wildlife tourism.