Elephant welfare

G Adventures Elephant Welfare Policy

G Adventures recognizes the importance of animal welfare to the tourism industry and believes it is an essential part of our commitment to responsible tourism.

We do not promote elephant trekking or elephant riding on any G Adventures trips in order to ensure the health and safety of these animals and reduce the demand for these practices. Furthermore, we do not promote trips that include, as part of the itinerary or optional extras, a visit to any establishment to see trained elephants perform for the public.

Around the world, there is a great deal of variation in attitudes towards elephant welfare, which is why G Adventures has adopted guidelines developed by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) in conjunction with the Born Free Foundation, a third-party organization whose mission is to protect vulnerable animals from abuse.

Some facts about elephants in tourism:

• 16,000 elephants are in captivity worldwide – a quarter of the total number on the planet
• 75% of captive adult elephants used for tourism entertainment have been taken directly from the wild
• Experts estimate five adult elephants can be killed while defending a calf during wild capture
• The trade of illegal elephants have fuelled corruption in Burma, Thailand, India, and Nepal

We believe that tourism can be a means for positive interactions between tourists and animals; however, where such interactions are not carefully managed or do not exhibit best practices there is potential to jeopardize animal welfare, the well-being of the local community, or the travellers’ experience.

For more information on our wider policies around animal welfare, please visit G Adventures’ animal welfare policy.

If you have experienced an animal in distress, please report it to G Adventures.

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