Choosing humane: New ethical wildlife assistance for SA

A newly launched ethical wildlife company is here to help tourists and consumers make informed, ethical choices about which captive wildlife attractions to visit within South Africa.

It’s all about choosing ethical – or, it should be. A new ethical wildlife organisation, WildChoices, has been launched to help and inform the public about reputable wildlife attractions and activities in South Africa. Serving to highlight those that are not.

Ethical wildlife tourism

The reality of captive wildlife institutions throughout the world is sometimes unfortunate, with many illegal goings-on that are not brought to the light. WildChoices has sought to change this.

According to Tourism Update, the organisation applies the SATSA Captive Wildlife Attractions & Activities Guidelines and Decision Tool, published in 2019, to assess captive wildlife tourism facilities based on publicly available information about their attractions and activities. 

The Tool is made up of a six-step decision tree that arrives at one of three results: ‘Support’, ‘Support with Caution’ and ‘Avoid’. 

Gavin Reynolds, founder of WildChoices along with Brett Mitchell, says:

“We were determined to take the publication of the SATSA Guidelines and Decision Tool one step further, by identifying and then assessing 219 captive wildlife facilities in South Africa,”

“Our assessment outcomes are mapped and delivered in a sortable table containing facility name, province, assessment result, and the answers to the decision tree questions to make it easy for tour operators, agents and individual travellers who don’t have the time, knowledge, experience, or confidence to apply the tool themselves. The table of facilities is searchable by facility name (or part thereof) which further enhances its utility.” he added.

Reynolds and Mitchell spent months researching, identifying and then assessing captive wildlife facilities across South Africa. They also plan on keeping on top of new information to keep the WildChoices list of facilities and assessment results current for the public.

“We believe that we can make a meaningful impact on the quality of moral decision-making by tourism companies, tourists and facilities themselves and, in so doing, make a positive impact on South Africa’s reputation as a choice destination for ethical wildlife tourism,” Reynolds concludes.

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