An ANIMAL protection charity is urging tourists not to click their photos with wild animals as a growing number of such images, including "tiger selfies", have surfaced online.
The Care for the Wild International wants to highlight the impact of photography on wildlife. "In Thailand it is popular to click a photo with a slow loris. People find the animal cute to pose with, but these are nocturnal creatures who are being dragged around neon-lit resorts, with their teeth and claws clipped, having cameras flashed in their eyes," the charity's communications manager Chris Pitt told The Guardian. "People want to copy the photos they've seen online, which leads to more animal suffering." He said that in addition to the risk to wildlife, tourists also put themselves in danger for the sake of a photo. The charity estimates that at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, a popular tourist spot, up to 60 incidents of captive tigers mauling tourists or volunteers take place in a year.