PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Elephants: Animal Welfare (12 February 2019)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural affairs, whether the Government is taking steps to discourage tourism from the UK to (a) Myanmar, (b) Sri Lanka and (c) other countries in which cruelty to elephants has been reported by NGOs.

Asked by:
Dr Rupa Huq (Labour)

The UK is home to some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and we hope that UK citizens continue to respect these standards when they travel abroad.

The Government has been working with the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) to encourage them to make their customers aware of the reported issues around Asian elephants. Tourists should consider whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that animals have been mistreated before deciding whether to visit an animal attraction.

We would encourage tourists to report any animal welfare concerns to their UK tour operator or travel agent on return to the UK.

Answered by:
David Rutley (Conservative)
18 February 2019