Many aspects of wildlife tourism we are not talking about
Years ago, on my first ever wildlife safari, I was given a chance to do the elephant safari. With such great excitement, our group of four wildlife “enthusiasts” got on the back of an elephant. Very aware of my own heft and that of the others, after 10 minutes into the safari, just when it was too late to turn around, I came to the realisation that all I wanted to do at that moment was to get down from the elephant’s back.
The mahout’s words of reassurance “don’t worry, the elephant can carry the weight” did not help one bit.
This was more than a decade ago and, to this day, this memory lives in my head rent-free, a painful reminder to never do that again.
Let’s talk about the grey area, that is, wildlife tourism.
Wildlife safaris are mostly done in two ways – jeep/canter safari and elephant safari. This is a grey area as when we talk about safari tourism, we are often met with “we are disturbing the wild areas”. But it is also true that safari tourism is one of the most effective ways to educate people about nature, the natural habitat, and most importantly, the conservation of wildlife in general.
