In celebration of Tourism Month and in the lead up to World Tourism Day in September 2021, Blood Lions unpacked the SATSA Captive Wildlife Attractions & Activities Guidelines in this social media campaign.
The #ThinkBeforeYouGo campaign aimed to dive deeper into the world of ethics and wildlife tourism, and to draw attention to the SATSA Guidelines which had been launched in October 2019 to help tourists determine which types of captive wildlife tourism activities are considered ethical and which are not.
#ThinkBeforeYouGo
#ThinkBeforeYouGo
Resources and articles to help you learn more about the campaign.
Unpacking the SATSA Guidelines
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
Why were the SATSA Guidelines created?
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
#ThinkBeforeYouGo: AVOID Performing animals
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
AVOID Tactile interactions with infant wildlife
#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
AVOID Walking with predators or elephants
#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? If
AVOID Tactile interactions with predators and cetaceans
#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
AVOID Riding of wild animals
#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
SUPPORT Keeping it wild
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