To celebrate World Environment Day the TreadRight Foundation will be launching its updated Animal Welfare Policy.

The document guides the Travel Corporation’s brands - including Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, Trafalgar, Costsaver and Contiki - when selecting wildlife experiences for their itineraries.

The policy provides greater detail for assisting teams to vet and assess sanctuaries, private reserves and animal experiences around the world.

The work that TreadRight does under its ‘Wildlife’ pillar (one of three pillars, alongside ‘Planet’ and ‘People’, which identifies TreadRight’s sustainable tourism initiatives), is focused on protecting and rehabilitating wildlife, as well as educating agents and guests about ethical animal experiences.

TreadRight’s Animal Welfare Policy is designed to ensure the health and welfare of animals under human care, and acts as a resource to empower TTC’s agent partners and guests to make ethical decisions, by learning to identify the factors that are vital to the welfare of wild animals.

TreadRight encourages any TTC guest who witnesses animal mistreatment to email [email protected], and the TreadRight team will investigate immediately.

The updated policy, drafted in cooperation with World Animal Protection, is one of the first to use the latest science-based framework for assessing animal welfare: the five domains model which looks at nutrition, environment, health, behaviour, and mental or affective state.

“Seeing wildlife in its natural habitat is a thrilling and life-changing experience that travellers seek out,” says Brett Tollman, global chief executive of the Travel Corporation.

“Our goal is to continue to provide these unforgettable experiences for our guests, while ensuring we advocate for wild animals and their homes, so we can protect them for generations to come.”

Included in the policy is guidance on distinguishing between domestic and wild animals, unacceptable practices including riding wild animals, ethically viewing animals in the wild and in enclosures, including zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres.

More Information

Take a look at the full policy here.