Social Media Fuels Inhumane Encounters With Exotic Animals
By Steve BynumSocial Media Fuels Inhumane Encounters With Exotic Animals
By Steve BynumInstagram is full of them: photos of tourists riding elephants, posing with tigers or cuddling koalas. But what is happening behind the scenes? That is among the questions writer Natasha Daly sets out to answer in her new article for National Geographic “Suffering Unseen: The Dark Truth Behind Wildlife Tourism.” To prepare the story, Daly spent three months in the field on four continents, along with photographer Kirsten Luce. In her article, she tells the stories of the roughly 3,800 captive elephants in Thailand, as well as circus bears in Russia, dolphins used for tourist encounters in Brazil and so many other captive animals. Daly joins Worldview to discuss National Geographic’s “How to” guide on how vacationers can humanely observe exotic animals, especially as the summer tourism season approaches.