@Brent – While I agree that supporting local businesses is a great way to support local communities there are many organizations that do good work.

@Brianna – Yeah, it’s almost impossible to know which are the “good” places to volunteer. Sorry to hear about your experience. A few years ago I almost volunteered with lions in South Africa. Fortunately, when I mentioned it to a S. African friend it raised a reg flag for him. He did some investigating and found out that the lions were later used for trophy hunting. It made me so sad as I would never want to contribute to trophy hunting – the complete opposite, but the website looked like they were doing fantastic things for lion conservation.

@Kathryn – Thanks for the recommendation. There are so many places doing wonderful work that it’s a shame that a few shady ones put a dark cloud over everyone else.

@Global Nomads – Wish everyone lived similarly to how you live. The world would be a much better place.

@Global Nomads – Having used to work in the education department of a zoo I have very mixed feelings about zoos. The animal’s health and wellbeing should obviously be priority #1 and unfortunately it isn’t in many zoos. Agreed that seeing animals in their natural habitat is the best and most exciting way to see them.

Every single zoo, aquarium, and safari organiser is equally guilty for making money by exploiting and disturbing animals. The only way to stop that is to stop using any services that involve animals. We love to see animals spontaneously in their own natural habitat.