We get mystery shoppers and qualified quality inspectors to audit our retail fronts and hotels – why not audit elephant camps, or for that matter, other forms of tourism attractions where there is reason to suspect things are not done correctly?
In the wild, such as the high mountains of Switzerland where I was on vacation last month, marmots whistle when they sense danger. These cute large squirrels are a source of food for eagles, and even humans. Nature, as we know, is a survival of the fittest, so I have no argument with natural food chains. But I have a problem when humans make the natural unnatural, and how we have seen that happen in big and small ways.
In captivity, animals are totally powerless to fend for themselves. And many – elephants, tigers, dolphins, etc – are used as tourists’ amusement.
Elephant camps in particular are aplenty in our region where logging has become illegal and their masters find new uses for these pachyderms as a tourist attraction. When done in the right way, tourism helps keep these big mammals alive, as the cost of feeding them is enormous. But we know much isn’t done in the right way. This is why when I learnt that Buffalo Tours had audited elephant camps across six countries in South-east Asia, I could not help but smile, not just because a funny headline, ‘Buffalo audits elephant camps’, came to mind, but because it is such a wonderful initiative.
We get mystery shoppers and qualified quality inspectors to audit our retail fronts and hotels – why not audit elephant camps, or for that matter, other forms of tourism attractions where there is reason to suspect things are not being done correctly? The elephant audits by Buffalo Tours were not done in secret or in a way to catch errant players by surprise, and the mere knowledge there was an audit was enough to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Graham Harper, chair of Buffalo Tours Responsible Travel Advisory Group, told me: “All camps that passed the audit readily agreed to participate. All were very enthusiastic about improving overall industry standards and proud to highlight their own best practices. Any camp that refused the audit automatically failed. Unfortunately there were a few camps in a couple of countries that did not want to participate. We believe these camps would have failed the audit regardless.”
The ones that passed the test are now recommended to Buffalo Tours’ overseas operators which include Flight Centre, Vakanties, Wendy Wu and Topdeck.
And there’s more good news. Buffalo Tours is in discussion with the ASEAN Captive Elephant Working Group, which is producing a guide for travel agents, with an FAQ for clients on captive elephants to enable them to make informed decisions on what type of elephant experience to enjoy while on holiday.
In the UK, ABTA has come up with a Global Welfare Guidance for Animals in Tourism. Tourism bodies in ASEAN or Asia should take a leaf from such great initiatives.
This article was first published in TTG Asia, August 5, 2016 issue, on page 2. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.
