The Amazon rainforest is famous for its diverse wildlife and the number of tourists who want to take selfies with its fascinating animals is rising fast.
Sadly, this has led to the exploitation of sloths, caimans, pink river dolphins, anacondas, and many more animals, who belong in the wild. With their gentle, slow nature, and facial markings that give the impression they’re always smiling, sloths have become one of the main targets for people looking to use them for profit. Despite the increased popularity of sloth selfies across social media, few people consider the conditions these wild animals are in, or the disruption they can cause to their natural habitat when taking the photo.
Many people offering wildlife selfies in the Amazon search treetops for sloths to steal. These typically calm, gentle animals are snatched from their natural habitats, forced to live in noisy, chaotic environments, and repeatedly passed around from tourist to tourist.
This has built an industry of animal tourism which is extremely dangerous and distressing for these wild animals.
Don’t be part of this ugly picture: make sure your wildlife selfies are cruelty-free.