Travel // Deadly Destinations

Deadly Destinations

Deadly Destinations “Habitats” made by humans may appeal to visitors who only look at them for a few minutes, but they’re still cages for the animals who are forced to spend their whole lives in them. We buy our cotton candy and move on with our lives; the animals are there to stay. They are housed in cages that don’t come close to the jungles, deserts, savannahs, and forests that are their natural homes. They have no choice in their diets, mates, or living companions. Every aspect of their lives is controlled and manipulated.

A few fleeting moments of distraction for humans mean a lifetime of misery for animals. This summer, if you care about animals, avoid animal exhibits like you would avoid poison ivy. Here are a few of the saddest summertime spots for animals:

Cherokee Bear Pits

Cherokee, North Carolina
Three roadside zoos—Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa's Land—keep bears in grossly inhumane conditions. As though locked in a 1950s time warp, these facilities display neurotic, hungry bears in desolate concrete pits or cramped cages in which the animals pace back and forth, walk in endless circles, cry, whimper, and beg tourists to toss them a morsel of food.

These roadside zoos have made no effort to simulate the animals' natural habitats or provide them with stimulation. The concrete pits that the bears in Cherokee are forced to call home deprive the animals of everything that is natural and important to them. Surrounded by four solid walls, the bears cannot scan the horizon, gain a perspective on their surroundings, or make much use of their acute sense of smell.

The zoos have been repeatedly cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for failure to meet minimal federal standards as established in the Animal Welfare Act.

Coney Island

Brooklyn, New York
From amusement to abusement, Coney Island is playing host to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and its cruel antics during the summer.

In contrast to enjoying miles and miles of open terrain in their natural habitat, elephants will be chained for the majority of the time and forced to perform confusing and physically demanding tricks for a cheap laugh. At least 26 elephants have died at the hands of Ringling since 1992, several from captivity-induced foot diseases from spending the majority of their lives chained and forced to stand for extended periods on hard surfaces. Video footage shows that Ringling trainers use a sharp metal-tipped bullhook to puncture elephants' skin in the most sensitive parts of their bodies.

This former New York summer destination used to attract tourists from all over the world, but its desperate attempt to survive by welcoming Ringling and its lengthy history of animal abuse and neglect will ensure that this floundering community remains a ghost town.

Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom

Orlando, Florida
Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom is more like a funeral parlor than a theme park. Before the park even opened, 31 animals died because of neglect and carelessness, including two West African crowned cranes who were run over by safari trucks, four cheetah cubs who swallowed a toxin found in antifreeze, and two Oriental small-clawed otters who ate poisonous seeds from loquat trees planted in their exhibit.

At Orlando Weekly’s invitation, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk visited Animal Kingdom on opening day to survey the park. A nocturnal kinkajou was trying to sleep in a glass case with glaring lights and thousands of gawking people outside, a dove was trying to incubate her eggs while on display, and a number of baby animals were separated from their caged mothers. Parrots are forced to perform on cue, and lizards are carted around in containers at the pseudo-African theme park.

Sea World

San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; Orlando, Florida
At SeaWorld, orcas are forced to perform tricks for food and to swim endless circles in small, barren concrete tanks, and they live far short of the 60-year life span that orcas enjoy in the wild. In the wild, these animals would live in tight family units, with bonds that can last a lifetime. In their ocean homes, dolphins swim together in family pods and can travel as far as 100 miles a day. In comparison, their home at SeaWorld is virtually a bathtub.

It isn't surprising that these frustrated animals often lash out. At SeaWorld Orlando on February 24, 2010, an experienced trainer was killed after being pulled into a tank by an orca. The woman's scalp was torn from her head, her arm was ripped from her body, and her spine, ribs, and facial bones were broken. Families and children watched as the orca slammed the woman to her death—only moments after she had been smiling at them.

SeaWorld, which owns most of the captive orcas and dolphins in the U.S., has one of the worst histories of animal care. Twenty-one orcas died in U.S. SeaWorld facilities between 1986 and 2008—an average of nearly one each year. Their deaths were caused by a range of factors, including severe trauma, intestinal gangrene, acute hemorrhagic pneumonia, pulmonary abscesses, chronic kidney disease, chronic cardiovascular failure, septicemia, and influenza. In some cases, the cause of death could not even be determined, but it is clear that none of these animals died of old age. Dozens of bottlenose dolphins have also died at SeaWorld.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Vallejo, California
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom can’t even keep its own employees happy, much less its animals! In March 2001, two former Discovery Kingdom employees filed a report with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging animal beatings, neglect, suffering, and terror caused by inadequate veterinary care, improper housing, mishandling by untrained and unqualified personnel, and exposure to noise from thrill rides and growing crowds at the park.

Since 1995, eight elephants have died at Discovery Kingdom. Elephants are forced to perform tricks and give rides to park visitors. Elephant handlers and visitors to the park have been injured by elephants on four separate occasions. Despite these serious incidents, Discovery Kingdom continues to use cruel, outdated circus-style training methods, in which elephants are beaten with bullhooks (rods with sharp metal hooks on the ends) if they don’t perform on cue.

Six Flags Wild Safari

Jackson, New Jersey
There are 31 Six Flags parks in North America; Wild Safari is one of two that exhibits elephants (see Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, above). The elephants are kept in a drive-through exhibit, which means that they are subjected to a constant stream of vehicles, exhaust, and unsupervised visitors.

In one three-month period, 26 animals died at Six Flags Wild Safari. The causes of death ranged from neck and skull fractures to hypothermia, tetanus, pneumonia, and drowning. While drive-through wildlife parks give the impression that they’re “sanctuaries,” Six Flags Wild Safari has sold “surplus” baboons to biomedical researchers and exotic hoofed animals to hunting ranches.

See our list of other animal-unfriendly spots to avoid.

Come Home Happy, Not Heartbroken

Summer vacations should hold only happy memories. Instead of tainting your trip by seeing tortured animals, why not simply hit the beach, take a cruise, or visit a museum? There are loads of eco-tourism companies that offer cruelty-free excursions.