Indonesian islands, Bali, Lombok and Gili Trawangan are the finest tourist destinations in Asia where thousands of people visit to enjoy the richness of crystal clear water. But, for animals like elephants, orangutans and dolphins, these islands are a real hell and recently some of the dolphins were found without teeth.
In these islands, animals are held in captivity just to entertain tourists, a similar concept which we have seen in the Hollywood movie 'Jurassic Park'. World Animal Protection (WAP), a non-profit organization recently conducted an investigation on 26 of these venues and they have now shed light on the tortures faced by animals in Indonesia.
During the investigation process, WAP came to know that all of the venues failed to meet the basic needs of animals and many times, they were forced to interact with humans. Animals living in these so-called paradise islands often have limited opportunities to socialize with other animals and they mostly receive insufficient or no veterinary medical care.
Elevating the heights of animal cruelty, in one venue, WAP workers found teeth of dolphins being completely removed to ensure that they will not inflict mortal bites to swimmers.
The CEO of WAP Steve McIvor said in a statement, "It's a tragedy that Bali, such a beautiful destination for tourists, forces its captive wild animals to endure such grotesque and horrific conditions. Behind the scenes, wild animals are being taken from their mothers as babies or bred in captivity to be kept in filthy, cramped conditions, or repeatedly forced to interact with tourist for hours on end."
McIvor also urged tourists to avoid visiting Bali until the country improves animal welfare at these venues. In addition, he mentioned that it is an "idyllic paradise and its economy relies on the millions of tourists who travel there each year. Sadly, until Bali improves animal welfare at these dreadful venues, we are urging tourists to avoid them."
The new report came just two months after an orangutan in an Indonesian zoo was seen smoking cigarettes. In a video, it was clear that the cigarette was thrown to the orangutan by a zoo visitor.
WAP on its website asked tourists to stop taking selfies with animals just to get likes on social media platforms such as Facebook. The NGO also requested travel companies to urgently review their Bali offerings to make sure that they are not supporting tourism on these establishments, where animal cruelty incidents are quite frequent.
