#stopanimalselfies

Costa Rica wants to become the first country to regulate the incidence of cruel or inadequate selfies involving wild animals, this through the initiative #stopanimalselfies. At Film Support we fully engage with and approve of this initiative.

A study carried out by World Animal Protection (WAP) in 2017, placed Costa Rica in the seventh place of the world in the number of inadequate photographs and selfies involving wild animals. In response to this and committed to protecting the biodiversity and wildlife, the environmental sector and the tourism sector joined efforts to put an end to this practice.

“Direct contact with wild animals can represent a risk to people and generate stress and suffering to the fauna. Animals can also carry illnesses or get sick by pathogens transmitted by human beings, for these reasons it is necessary to keep a safe distance when they are seen in their natural habitat or sanctuaries and respect their natural behavior. The contact with wild animals represents a risk to national and foreign tourists”, commented Pamela Castillo, vice-minister of environment and energy.

Costa Rica is an extremely diverse country and a pioneer in biodiversity preservation. It is home to more than 5 percent of the species in the world.

Ecotourism is one of the major sources of income and employment. Therefore, optimum use of our biodiversity, as a key element in tourist development, is based on keeping the ecological processes that are essential to its preservation.

“The campaign has the objective of generating conscience about the adequate treatment that a sustainable tourism destination must guarantee to its wild animals and to those that get close to them as tourists. Stop Animal Selfies has the support of the Costa Rican Tourism Board due to its contribution it makes to the country’s model of sustainable tourism development”, said María Amelia Revelo, Minister of Tourism.

The campaign urges tourists not to offer food to wild animals, avoid trying to capture them, not make loud noises in sanctuaries or rescue centers to try to get their attention, and to never touch, grab or hold an animal in a sanctuary or rescue center or a wild animal.

For additional information visit stopanimalselfies.org