BRED FOR ‘BREAD’: The dark reality of profit-driven wildlife farms
An estimated 5.5 billion wild animals are being kept in cruel conditions on commercial wildlife farms, new report by World Animal Protection reveals. The research found very little evidence to support claims by some conservationists that breeding programs reduce pressure on wild populations. Shockingly, some captive wildlife populations are now larger than those living free. For example, bears (20,000) and tigers (5,000) are farmed across Asia for their body parts yet their numbers have plunged in the wild.
WORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION: An estimated 5.5 billion wild animals are being kept in cruel conditions on commercial wildlife farms, new research by World Animal Protection reveals… ‘Bred for Profit: The Truth About Global Wildlife Farming‘ report reveals for the first time the vast scale of this exploitative industry in which billions of wild animals are bred to be traded as pets, used for entertainment or tourist attractions, and turned into ornaments, luxury food, fashion products or traditional medicine (TM).
Researchers found an astonishing lack of transparency and inadequate monitoring across the global multi-billion-dollar industry, where sentient animals are treated as mere components in a cruel production line. Through a long history of working across many of these exploitative industries, World Animal Protection know that large numbers of wild animals suffer from malnourishment, disease, stress-induced behaviours, injuries, infected wounds – and even cannibalism.
The report, compiled using Freedom of Information requests and other research, also details how the high numbers of animals living in cramped, unhygienic conditions put their caretakers and the public at risk of zoonotic diseases – potentially to pandemic proportions. Our research found very little evidence to support claims by some conservationists that breeding programmes fulfill the demand for wildlife products and reduce pressure on wild populations.
Shockingly, some captive wildlife populations are now larger than those living free. Case studies in the report detail some of the industries where urgent action is needed – including:
– Bear farming in China – where some 20,000 bears are farmed for their bile on dozens of farms to sate the demand of the US$1 billion bear bile industry in China.
– Elephant breeding in Thailand – where the majority of nearly 3,000 elephants are bred in captivity and used in 246 venues for tourism, generating between US$581 to US$770 million annually. Between 2010 and 2020 the number of elephant venues increased by a staggering 134%.
– Lion and other big cat farming in South Africa – where approximately 8,000 big cats are bred at 366 known facilities and used for multiple purposes in the U$43 million industry, including for tourist entertainment, trophy hunting and body parts exports to Asia for TM. SOURCE…
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