Australians warned to stop taking selfies with wildlife

Above: 3AW Breakfast producer Scorcher Davidson with with a bearded pig and proboscis monkey on a recent overseas trip. Thankfully, these are not selfies.

Australians travelling overseas have been warned to stop taking selfies with wildlife.

World Animal Protection says there’s increasing number of animals, particularly in south-east Asia, being exploited and living in sub-standard conditions.

And Australians, among the most likely to selfies with these animals, were fund it.

“It really is explicitly cruel,” campaign manager Ben Person told Ross and John said of the way many animals were kept.

“In a lot of cases, Australians go over to these places and they just don’t know what’s going on, so we’re not pointing the finger at anyone.”

Mr Pearson said having to pay for an experience wasn’t necessarily a reason to be suspicious.

“It’s a pretty easy rule of thumb for us: If you go to a venue that says you can hold an animal, you can ride it, you can haver a selfie with it, kiss it … you’re probably at a venue that’s treating animals poorly,” he said.

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