Witnessing wild animals in their natural habitat can be an awe-inspiring experience, and getting up close and personal with local fauna often lands at the top of many travelers’ bucket lists. Safari travel makes it possible to connect with the world’s incredible animal diversity while checking off that bucket list item. In fact, safaris are one of the main attractions for travelers visiting Africa. But this often raises an important question: Are safaris ethical?
international medical aid safari in africa
While visiting a safari tends to be more ethical than supporting zoos and circuses that over-breed and abuse wildlife for entertainment, it’s important to do your research to ensure your time and money are going to sustainable safaris. There are still many safaris out there that support hunting and abuse; however ethical safaris have the possibility of protecting wildlife and supporting local economies.
Here you’ll find everything you need to know about the disadvantages of safari parks and how to find sustainable, ethical safaris that help to preserve wildlife.
Are safaris bad for animals?
While the world has become increasingly environmentally conscious and most humans would never support the idea of killing animals for sport, it can still be easy to fall into the trap of unethical safaris.
Safari originated in colonial times, where shooting trophy animals, like lions and elephants, proved high social status. Today’s safari parks may have lost the guns, but often we show up in colonial-inspired khakis and disrupt wildlife with our intrusive presence, tracking down elephants, rhinos, and cheetahs for a good photo to show our friends at home.
If you’re touring with a reputable, professional organization, your experience will be ethical—and memorable!
When safaris support personal contact and disruption of the animals’ natural lifestyle, it’s never good for the animals. Other disadvantages of safari parks include habituation, which can cause wildlife to lose their natural instincts, and animals can even risk contracting human disease if people are able to pet, touch, and take selfies with them.
The reality is, safaris house wild animals, and it will always be safer and healthier for them to live a natural lifestyle where they aren’t interrupted by humans.
At the same time, when ethical safaris step in, they have the ability to protect species from poachers, protecting them from endangerment and extinction, while boosting the economy for local communities. There’s a fine line between ethical and unethical safaris, so it’s important to do your research to know how to identify those with the best intentions.
How to know if your safari is ethical
Ethical practices during a safari will only enhance your experience.
What do you need to look out for when choosing ethical safaris? Here is the best advice to help you steer clear of unethical safaris and support the ones that protect the wildlife and their surroundings.
1. Choose the right provider
When choosing a provider for sustainable safaris, it’s important to ensure the provider’s mission is in alignment with supporting the local community and only visit parks that maintain the natural habitat of local wildlife.
IMA Safaris Africa organizes adventure treks and educational tours around Africa, visiting countries from Kenya to Tanzania to Zambia. Through their travel tours, study opportunities, and experiential internships, IMA takes you to some of the least exploited nature parks in Africa, like the Selous Game Reserve, where you can observe wildlife from afar while learning about the health and well-being of the local people.
2. They respect safari etiquette
Following safari etiquette keeps animals safe and undisturbed.
Ethical safaris follow proper safari etiquette: they encourage tourists to keep their distance, avoid contact and flash photography, and speak quietly so as to not disturb the wildlife.
They also limit the time spent inside the reserve, as their main focus is to reduce stress on the animals protected in the reserve.
3. There is no human contact with the animals
If a safari park lures you in with opportunities to cuddle tigers, ride elephants, or take photos with giraffes, it’s clear their top priorities are not protection and conservation. These kinds of safaris are more focused on tourism and making money.
Often, the opportunity to connect physically with wildlife comes with abuse and drugging of animals so that they are reduced to a state that allows them to be around humans without posing a threat.
Instead, opt for the sustainable safaris that teach you to admire animals from a distance, preserving the peace of their environment.
Incredible photos and memories will last you a lifetime!
4. They’re open about their conservation initiatives
Sustainable safaris love to teach you about the charities they’re involved with and always aim to show you how they participate in sustainable tourism, preservation, and farming.
Ethical safaris are proud of the work they do, and they will take any opportunity to spread awareness of animal conservation. If a safari withholds information about their involvement with charities and sustainability, it’s a major red flag.
5. Your money goes to conservation
Not only will sustainable safaris be an open book about conservation initiatives and their involvement with the local community, but they’ll also want to ensure tourism boosts these initiatives, too.
Wildlife conservation can only be successful when the community is flourishing, so ethical safaris will always want to ensure money is going back into conservation and the local economy. What does your money cover when participating in safari tourism? Who is the money helping?
If it’s going back to charities, conservation, and local communities, you can bet you’ve stumbled upon ethical safaris.
6. Animals roam freely
Seeing animals in their natural habitat is awe-inspiring.
The whole point of visiting a safari is to connect with the local wildlife in their native environment. When animals live in captivity, their natural lifestyle is disrupted.
At ethical safaris, animals live freely, uncaged. They can roam where and when they want and they can hunt and eat what they want. Here, you’ll feel like a visitor, an observer, who is watching from the outside.
7. They use traditional safari transportation
You can spot an unethical safari based on the transportation they use to show tourists around the reserve.
Some unethical safaris use the method of travel as an adventure opportunity, allowing tourists to explore on quad bikes or other noisy vehicles that can startle the animals and damage the delicate flora that grows throughout the park.
Instead, ethical safaris use traditional transportation methods, either by walking on foot or in an appropriate safari vehicle. You’ll also never be alone; you should always be accompanied by a guide who is familiar with the area and the wildlife that surrounds it.
Having the right transportation during your safari makes a bigger difference than you may realize!
8. Even the souvenirs are sustainable
It goes without saying, but if a safari is offering souvenirs made from poached animals, you can bet it’s unethical.
Buying products made out of ivory, shells, or fur are a sure sign that hunting is still supported. Instead, support the safaris that offer local, handmade items made from sustainable materials.
You’ll leave with a treasure, while supporting the local craftsmen and giving back to a sustainable park that has the best intentions.
Talk to our Online Advisor & get matched with 5 safaris abroad—it’s free!
Be a responsible ecotourist—choose an ethical safari!
You won’t regret it!
While it can be tempting to choose a safari adventure that allows you to get up close and personal with animals we’ve never seen before, the most incredible moments come from witnessing wildlife in their natural habitat, undisturbed by humanity.
Ethical safaris ensure our furry friends are protected, living their best lives, while also giving back to the community. Choose ethical safaris for the adventure of a lifetime.
This article was written with help from International Medical Aid, who also provided all photos seen above. IMA is a not-for-profit organization that offers medical programs for students in places like East Africa, South America, and the Caribbean through an ethics-based approach to care. They offer summer, fall, and winter programs.
Look for the Perfect Adventure Travel Program Now
Start Your Search
