US travel site inspired by our TripAdvisor breakthrough stops selling tickets to cruel wildlife venues

American travel company Your African Safari (YAS) contacted us for advice and support in making this bold move after learning of TripAdvisor’s recent commitment to protect animals

Your African Safari will stop offering cruel wildlife attractions, including elephant rides and walks with lions. We helped YAS identify the kinds of attractions it needed to remove from its site to make this shift for wild animals.

YAS’ decision is another positive step towards ending the wildlife tourist entertainment industry for good.

Change within the tourism industry

Thanks to 558,000 amazing supporters who signed our petition, TripAdvisor committed to stop selling tickets to some of the world’s cruellest wildlife activities in October last year. It was this huge moment in the travel industry to help protect wild animals, and this inspired YAS to make the decision and contact us for expertise and support.

Your African Safari lists more than 3,000 tours in Africa on its site, features over 2,100 tour operators, 1,500 reviews, and over 10,000 safari photos.

Your African Safari founder Jennifer Goetz said:

"YAS is pleased to work with organizations such as World __animal Protection to make positive, sustainable changes for animals and to help educate tourists on the various safari packages on offer.

"Most visitors wish to preserve and protect the animals they see on safari, yet many tourists aren’t aware of the cruelty behind the scenes of activities like elephant-back rides and walks with lions."

elephant_ride_in_southern_africa.jpg

Tourists ride elephants in southern Africa

Our wildlife campaign manager, Elizabeth Hogan, said:

"Your African Safari is setting a fantastic example for online travel sites and tour operators around the world.

"By encouraging tourists who love wild animals to see them safely on tours and safaris in the wild, it’s helping to make cruel wildlife tourist attractions a thing of the past."

Gaining momentum

Your African Safari’s decision represents a growing movement in the travel industry. The company hopes even more businesses will make a change like this one for wild animals:

Goetz added: "[We] hope that others in the travel industry will join us in committing to promote only tour packages that are in the animals’ best interest."

Elephant-friendly travel

We’ve already helped many travel companies implement better __animal welfare into their business models. By signing our Elephant-friendly pledge, 161 travel companies around the world have already committed to stop selling tickets to cruel elephant rides and shows.

If you work for a travel company and want to make a commitment for wild animals just like YAS and TripAdvisor, email us to find out how to become Elephant-friendly.

Go to our Wildlife. Not entertainers page to learn more about the campaign.

"By encouraging tourists who love wild animals to see them safely on tours and safaris in the wild, it’s helping to make cruel wildlife tourist attractions a thing of the past." - Our wildlife campaign manager, Elizabeth Hogan

Categories: 

Animals in the wild

Animals in entertainment

The fight to save Earth's smallest rhino in Sumatra's jungles

Highlights

• Andatu, is a Sumatran rhino, one of the rarest large mammals on Earth
• He is part of a special breeding programme for Sumatran rhino at Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia
• Sumatra is the sole place where __wild rhinos, orangutans, tigers and elephants roam together.

Andatu, a Sumatran rhino, one of the rarest large mammals on earth,at Way Kambas National Park in eastern Sumatra. (AFP photo)

Environmentalists welcome Uttarakhand HC order banning killing of big cats

Representative image (PTI photo)

Conflict in Africa blocking efforts to save giraffes

(Representative image)

Rainbow-headed snake, 'Star Trek' newt among 163 new species

The rainbow-headed snake. (AFP photo)

Australia begins new koala breeding programme

(Representative image)

Highly-contagious bird flu found in Japan, culling start

Health officials investigate a chicken farm in Sekikawa village, northern Japan, after a highly contagious avi... Read More

Scientists record biggest ever coral die-off on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

(Reuters Photo)

Light pollution dampens urban robins’ song: Study

(Representative image)

Human activities damaging over 100 World Heritage sites: Study

Sundarbans tiger population stable, finds report

1 lakh rare migratory birds spotted in China's river delta

(Representative image)

Trillions of insects migrate overhead each year: Study

(Representative image)

Ancient trees at China's famous Mountain get digital ID cards

Highlights

• About 20,000 ancient trees on the renowned Mount Tai in east China's Shandong Province now have "digital ID cards".
• The cards will provide a range of info about the environment, climate, diseases & pests.
• The system can calculate whether a tree is healthy, weak or dying.

The sacred Mount Tai in east China's Shandong Province. (Image courtesy: Twitter/@chinaorgcn)

Male panda who fathered twins born in summer dies in Vienna zoo

Long Hui

'Big chill' after asteroid strike likely killed dinosaurs, suggests study

(Representative image)

World's last wild frankincense forests are under threat

Cliffs near Daalo in the Cal Madow mountains in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. The last wild frank... Read More

World's oldest living panda in captivity celebrates 37th birthday

Highlights

• Basi, born in 1980, is the oldest, and possibly the most famous, panda
• She is world's oldest captive panda with a celebrity status
• She turned 37 today, which is equivalent to more than 100 human years

(AFP photo)

New species of ant-like desert bees found

(Photo only for representation)

How a lonely female leopard shark became pregnant without a mate

(Picture courtesy: Twitter)

Marks & Spencer and Waitrose top animal welfare rankings, while Domino’s Pizza Group PLC and Starbucks continue to flounder

Published today, our global Business Benchmark on Farm __animal Welfare (BBFAW) shows some companies prioritising the well being of animals in their supply chains, while several major fast food chains have yet to acknowledge farm __animal welfare as a business issue

Designed to encourage higher farm animal welfare standards across the food industry, BBFAW annually reviews the world’s leading food companies. It is produced by ourselves in collaboration with Compassion in World Farming and investment firm Coller Capital.      

Marks & Spencer, Noble Foods, Waitrose, UK food producer Cranswick, Swiss retail cooperative Migros, and Coop Switzerland, attained highest marks for management and reporting on farm animal welfare in the 2016 Benchmark Report.

Cranswick and Migros shot up to the top tier from a lower position the year before, showing leadership in farm animal welfare. Greggs, Tesco and BRF rose up the rankings to tier two, joining McDonald’s and Unilever – a position which indicates that animal welfare is an integral part of a company’s business strategy.

Fast food giants Domino’s Pizza Group Plc, Starbucks, the owner of Burger King (Restaurant Brands International) and the owner of KFC (Yum! Brands) are among several still low ranking companies.

BBFAW executive director, Nicky Amos, said:

“With 26 companies moving up at least one tier since 2015, there is a clear indication that the food industry is finally starting to treat farm animal welfare as an important business issue”.

Room to improve

However, despite these positive trends, improvements must be made by low-ranking brands.

42 of the 99 companies still rank in the two lowest tiers (5 and 6), including Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International, Domino’s Pizza Group Plc and Starbucks Corporation.

Domino’s Pizza Group Plc is in the lowest tier, alongside Kraft Heinz and JD Wetherspoon, with no evidence of farm animal welfare being on their business agendas. Starbucks, Restaurant Brands International and Yum! Brands (owner of KFC) are in the second to bottom tier, indicating that farm animal welfare is on the business agenda but there is limited evidence of implementation.

Amos added: “[This] demonstrates that there is much work to be done to even get farm animal welfare on the business agenda of many large global food companies.”

Positive changes since report started five years ago

Of the companies studied:  

• 73% have published farm animal welfare policies – compared to just 46% in 2012;
• and 65% have published targets on farm animal welfare – up from 26% in 2012.

Currently, 13 companies sit in the Benchmark’s top two tiers, including: Coop Group (Switzerland), Cranswick, Marks & Spencer, Migros, Noble Foods and Waitrose in Tier 1. BRF, Cargill, Co-op (UK), Greggs, McDonald’s, Tesco and Unilever are in Tier 2.

Embedding farm animal welfare into business models

These companies demonstrate strong commitments to farm animal welfare and have established management systems and processes.

As well the companies’ achievements, the report highlights the important role of institutional investors in driving improvements in practice and process across the food industry.

Steve McIvor, our CEO, said: “A better quality of life for farm animals relies upon the industry taking a stand, responding to changing consumer demand and making large-scale changes across the world.”

"The 2016 Business Benchmark highlights that this issue remains a low priority for many companies, and there's still a long way to go to encourage the global food industry to end the suffering of farm animals who frankly deserve better. Despite this, it's great to see a growing group of progressive companies leading the way as they work to improve farm animal welfare standards."

Jeremy Coller, founder of Coller Capital and the Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return Initiative, added:

“From farms to fast food chains, global investors want well managed, forward-thinking food companies. The Benchmark is an essential tool to help investors find such corporate leaders, as a company’s disclosure of farm animal welfare practices offers a valuable insight into the wider quality of corporate management.

Read the full report here.

“A better quality of life for farm animals relies upon the industry taking a stand, responding to changing consumer demand and making large-scale changes across the world” - our CEO Steve McIvor

Categories: 

Animals in farming

Factory farming

Haiti earthquake seven years on: how supporters helped save 500,000 animals

Today (January 12 2017) marks seven years since a terrible earthquake hit Haiti

Despite lasting less than a minute, its magnitude was catastrophic. The scale of devastation it caused was unprecedented.

As well as having a huge impact on Haitian people, many thousands of animals were left homeless, were badly injured, or died.

It's important to not only remember the people and animals who sadly lost their lives, but also be prepared for future events of a similar kind. Our supporters are vital to this.

We reached Haiti as quickly as possible

Just 72 hours after the earthquake, our vets arrived. They delivered immediate first-aid to pets and farm animals. With the help of our supporters’ generous donations, we vaccinated animals to stop the spread of diseases such as rabies and anthrax.

How we helped animals

We supported the recovery of surviving animals, and where possible, reunited them with their families. We gave medical care to around 70,000 animals from our mobile clinics. We also helped 425,000 animals by strengthening __animal health care systems in Haiti, including the rebuilding of the Taraminier Laboratory, a critical __animal health facility.

Hurricane Matthew brought more animal suffering in 2016

Haiti is vulnerable to natural disasters, and was affected by a major hurricane in October 2016. We deployed to the island again last year and helped approximately 110,000 injured, sick and displaced animals affected by this most recent natural disaster.

Make a donation

As we reflect on the seven years since the Haiti earthquake, it's important to think of the future too. We can't be there for as many animals without people like you.

Please donate to help protect animals around the world.

Your gift could help our teams continue to care for animals affected by natural disasters, as well as help communities prepare for the worst. Without people like you, many animals could be left alone in the wake of earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, floods and other disasters.

Thank you for all your support.

With the help of our supporters’ generous donations, we vaccinated animals to stop the spread of diseases such as rabies and anthrax

Categories: 

Animals in disasters

Why animals matter in a disaster

Disaster response team

Key case studies

Rise in forest fire spots: Parliamentary panel recommends replacing pine with broad-leaved trees

(Representative image)

Centre proposes strict rules to regulate pet shops in India

Highlights

• The rules make it mandatory for all pet shop owners to register themselves with the State Animal Welfare Board of the respective State govt/UT
• The rules define space requirement for birds, cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pig, hamster, rats and mice in the pet shops.

(Representative image)

Rare family photo of pandas captured on camera in China

It's never too late to make a resolution for animals

The New Year is a time to make changes, but resolutions can be very difficult to stick to. Whether or not you've kept to your commitments so far, it's never too late to help move the world for animals

Every year, billions of animals worldwide suffer needlessly. Chickens are factory farmed in appalling conditions, stray dogs are culled in misguided attempts to tackle rabies, and elephants are beaten so they will take tourists for rides.

Animals can’t make New Year’s resolutions to transform their own lives. Yet we can help stop this needless cruelty by supporting a campaign, making small lifestyle changes, or asking simple questions.

Here are six great ways you can help us make a difference for animals with us in 2017

1. Create change for chickens

Forced to live in horrific conditions, billions of chickens across the world experience unbearable suffering during their short, miserable lives. We believe industry can help change this, so we’re challenging KFC to commit to criteria which will see slower growing birds with more space, litter and natural light to allow for a better quality of life. Support our campaign to create Change for chickens.

2. Ask where your food comes from

Do you know whether the chicken, cow or pig you ate was raised humanely? How often do you ask where the food you buy or order comes from? Research we commissioned last year revealed that of those polled who ate chicken, seven out of ten (71%) never ask where their chicken comes from. Asking whether the food you eat was brought up on factory farms or in cruel cage systems, and making better choices, helps puts pressure on the food industry to change.

3. Give animals a voice

Animals don't have a voice, but you can lend them yours. From telling a friend about the realities behind factory farming, to filling in a feedback form at your local supermarket, you can speak up for animals. You can also sign the Universal Declaration for __animal Welfare.

4. Don’t support entertainment that harms animals 

Your choices on holiday have the power to reduce demand for cruel attractions and save __animal lives. We've put together some tips to help you and your friends make informed decisions about animal experiences on your holiday. Read our tips for animal friendly travel.

5. Help us protect more animals

Last year, you helped us protect more than 100 million animals.

You can help us achieve even more by pledging a monthly gift. Your donation could help fund groundbreaking investigations and research that exposes animal suffering, save animals affected by natural disasters, or support campaigns that force change for animals.

6. Keep up to date and help spread the word

Learn more about animals, the latest issues that impact them and what we’re doing to move the world to protect animals by signing up to receive our newsletter or by liking our Facebook page or following us on Twitter.

How will you commit to help animals in 2017?

Animals can’t make New Year’s resolutions to transform their own lives. Yet we can help stop this needless cruelty.

India records highest number of tiger seizure: Report

Highlights

• According to a report by wildlife trade monitor, India has recorded the highest number of seizure of tigers and parts among all 13 tiger range countries
• The report said India has observed a rapid decrease in number of seizures reported since 2010.
• The highest number of seizures was recorded in 2009 & the lowest in 2013.

Indonesia expands protection for peatlands, climate

The product conceptualized by Shyam Bedekar and implemented by his wife Swati is an eco-friendly incinerator m... Read More

How we shop hurts endangered species

(Photo for representational purposes)

Endangered sea turtle with sliced shell found dead on Singapore beach

Environmentalists protest hunting bison plan in Poland

Bison pictured at a reserve in the Bialowieza forest, in Bialowieza, eastern Poland. (AP Photo)

China says it will shut down ivory trade by end of 2017

China will ban all domestic ivory trade by the end of 2017. This is a ‘game changer’ for African elephants. (AFP PHOTO)

Now, all puppies to be sold with micro-chips

(Representative image)