Ethical Tourism and Elephants

What Ethical Tourism Is Not

I’ve had the privilege and honor of being in the presence of elephants in:

• Thailand
• California
• Texas
• France
• Rwanda
• Botswana

In the first four, they were in sanctuaries. In the last two, they were in the wild.

But despite what they call themselves, not all animal outfits are ethical.

As I discuss in my Food for Thought podcast episode Ethical Tourism: Avoiding Animal Cruelty While Traveling, please remember (and remind your friends and family) to avoid any outfit — both domestically and internationally — that involves / sells / promotes any of the following experiences: 

• Elephant Rides
• Elephant Paintings
• Elephants in Zoos
• Elephants in Circuses 

…or the use of elephants in any form of entertainment. 

The Red Flags of Green Washing

• Chains
• Ropes
• Hooks / Bull-hooks
• Baby elephants without their mothers
• A place that calls itself a “sanctuary” but has elephants chained in any way or allows riding or sells paintings by elephants

Just as ivory belongs to elephants, elephants belong in the wild.

See Animals (Ethically) on a Joyful Vegan Trip!

In September 2023, we took 20 travelers on our Joyful Vegan Trip to the Loire Valley and Dordogne Valley, where we had the honor of visiting these magnificent beings in France at Europe’s first sanctuary for elephants — rescued from circuses and zoos. (Check out Elephant Haven.)

Visit JoyfulVeganTrips.com, and join us to experience the joy, abundance, camaraderie, and compassion that characterize our trips around the world with moi my amazing husband, and my incredible travel partners, World Vegan Travel. 

HAVE YOU BEEN TO AN ELEPHANT SANCTUARY? Please let me know in the comments below!

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