Expedia Takes a Stand Against Animal Cruelty

Count Expedia among the travel companies who have taken a public stance against animal cruelty. The travel booking engine has announced that it will no longer sell “activities involving certain wildlife animal interactions.”

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has hailed that announcement as good news.

“The tide against tourist traps that imprison wild animals for entertainment has been steadily turning since last year, when PETA first called on Expedia and other travel companies to ban elephant rides,” read an announcement on the PETA website. “Travel shouldn’t include torture, and we urge kind people to skip any attraction that comes at a captive animal’s expense.”

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Expedia says it plans to “undertake a thorough review” of the activities offered on its site and other distribution channels. Working under the guidance of such advocacy groups as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, Born Free Foundation, The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International, Expedia will remove questionable activities over the coming months.

"Expedia can play an integral part in educating travelers about the diverse views related to wildlife tourism, so they can make informed decisions that align with how they travel and how they interact with the animals that share our planet," said Jen O'Twomney, vice president, Expedia Local Expert®. "As travelers, it is important that we know more about the places we go, the activities we engage in, and the ways in which we leave lasting impacts on our destinations. As we help people go places, we want to help them do it thoughtfully, and responsibly."

The increase in popularity of elephant rides has become a particular concern for advocacy groups. Organizations like PETA say the elephants are regularly beaten and controlled with threats of punishment in a process designed to “break the animals.”

Intrepid Travel, long a leader on this subject, posted a powerful blog “This is Why We No Longer Ride Elephants,” back in 2014. Essentially, Intrepid was concerned about the effect tourism was having on elephants in captivity so they teamed up with World Animal Protection in 2010 to do extensive research on the matter.

What they learned did not gel with the way they do business.

“Yes, there are a considerable number of elephants that have been rescued from working in industries like logging and their carers need to earn a living to feed and care for them,” wrote Geoff Manchester, co-founder of Intrepid. “But we’ve also learned that the numbers of elephants being poached from the wild has increased to fuel the tourism demand for rides and entertainment. Some venues seem to be trying to outdo each other with novelty offerings that clearly give little regard to the elephants’ welfare. An elephant falling off a tight rope would be catastrophic for the elephant.”

According to a blog post by PETA, there are a growing number of travel companies who no longer sell elephant rides. Among them: Amawaterways, Avanti Destinations, Butterfield & Robinson, Collette, G Adventures, Globus family of brands, Intrepid Travel, Isramworld, Kensington Tours, Pacific Delight Tours, STA Travel, Tauck, Thomas Cook, TripAdvisor and TUI Group. View the blog post to see a complete list.

READ MORE: How the Travel Industry is Helping Protect Animal Wildlife

Elephant rides are not the only questionable wildlife activity offered to tourists, however. When Thomas Cook, the U.K.’s second-largest travel provider, dropped elephant ride programs earlier this year, it also cut ties with a number of interactive dolphin programs as well.

While these companies were ones that mostly house dolphins in some sort of formalized facility, even swimming with the dolphins in settings like in Hawaii can pose significant challenges for wild animals.

Primarily, Hawaii’s popular spinner dolphins are nocturnal animals. Although they sleep during the day, they are forced to remain awake as swimmers descend upon them, causing stress for the animals. Other major hazards include humans feeding the dolphins items like beer, candy and hot dogs, which can lead to significant health problems.

In Hawaii, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been talking about tightening restrictions on tours that “swim with the dolphins.” In the meantime, it recommends visitors only book programs that carry NOAA’s “Dolphin Smart” seal of approval.

For Michael Markarian, chief operating officer of The Humane Society of the United States, its all about educating people.

"Travelers have many great options for celebrating their love of animals and supporting a humane economy,” he said. “But they are often unaware that animal suffering may lurk behind many animal attractions and tourist traps that don't have the animals' best interest at heart. We thank Expedia for helping people and animals avoid a bad trip."  

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