World Animal Protection’s report reveals a staggering 5.5 billion wild animals are commercially farmed every year.
In nearly every corner of the world, humans are exploiting wild animals for profit—whether it’s minks suffering on fur farms in the United States, elephants forced to entertain tourists at fake sanctuaries in Thailand, or lions brutally killed in canned hunts in South Africa.
When it comes to farmed animals exploited for food, we know approximately how many animals are bred and slaughtered every year. But what about wildlife? How many minks and lions and elephants and bears and crocodiles are bred on wildlife farms each year just to be killed or sold into a lifetime of captivity? Until now, no one has really known.
After extensive and groundbreaking research investigating animal exploitation industries across continents, World Animal Protection can answer this very question. The answer? A staggering 5.5 billion animals each year.
Unseen Suffering on Wildlife Farms
Animals held on wildlife farms suffer from malnourishment, disease, stress, injuries, infected wounds—and even cannibalism. Yet there is an astonishing lack of transparency and inadequate monitoring across the global multi-billion-dollar industries that exploit animals. Many governments aren’t even regulating or keeping data on these dangerous activities.
Some of the animals caught up in this cruel system include:
- Some 20,000 bears in China who are farmed for their bile.
- Nearly 3,000 elephants in Thailand who are forced to entertain tourists.
- Approximately 8,000 big cats in South Africa who are used for interactive petting experiences or killed by trophy hunters.
The Conservation Myth
The report also dispels the myth that breeding programs reduce pressure on wildlife populations. Instead, commercial breeding can actually contribute to the further decline of wild populations of some species. Low prices for captive-bred wildlife products fuel demand, and wildlife farms make it easier to launder animals illegally taken from the wild.
Join Us in Shutting Down Wildlife Farming
Our team in Thailand has been calling on the Thai government to protect elephants and has collected over 50,000 signatures. But we need your help to show that there’s global support.
Sign our petition asking the Thai government to enact laws to ensure no more elephants are born into a life of chains and hooks.