Think twice before taking a selfie with wild animals while you’re on vacation. Costa Rica’s government together with civil society organizations and tourism companies is informing travellers that taking selfies with wildlife is impacting their feeding, breeding and birth rates.
You might think that wildlife selfies are a cute memento however wildlife selfies are never a good idea. Taking wildlife selfies could lead you to a higher risk of being exposed to biting, attacks and even diseases.
Studies have shown that between 2014 and 2017 there was a 292% increase in the number of wildlife selfies posted to Instagram and a large percentage of wildlife selfies are those unethical.
Everyone should keep in mind that animals are not photo props for selfies and they have feelings just like humans. The presence of tourists is causing a great damage to biodiversity since people are creating a stressful environment and most of the animals are kept in small cages.
Costa Rica has launched a new campaign for tourists to raise awareness about the negative impacts on selfies and photographs with wild animals and this could lead to more animals performing natural behaviours.
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This is a project for Study Unit MCS3953, University of Malta.