The selfie culture has become a worldwide phenomenon over the last decade, fueled by a narcissistic need for people to share every second of their life on social media. Coupled with a sense of self-entitlement and a complete lack of awareness, this has led to increasingly irresponsible travel behavior in the form of animal selfies, which contribute to wildlife exploitation and animal abuse on a global scale.

 Far too many travelers setting off on their round-the-world adventures have dreams of getting their picture taken with a cute baby sloth or a panda. People will often venture to a specific destination just to get a selfie with a tiger or elephant, filling their social media feed with pictures of how awesome they are to impress their friends and family back home.

 They see their photo of them straddling a grown tiger or hugging a cute little koala bear as evidence of their love for animals and proof of their amazing adventures. And of course making friends jealous via Facebook or Instagram can be a massive boost to the ego. But at what cost?

 Here, we’ll take a look at the rise of animal selfies and the myriad ways in which they contribute to the abuse and exploitation of wildlife.

From http://greenglobaltravel.com/

Link to full report