A mother pig in crate

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Report library

Our investigations team has written a plethora of research reports that expose and inform about complex animal protection issues around the globe.

Our reports are organised by campaign and listed in order from newest to oldest.

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Crocodile in restrictive enclosure, Northern Territory, Australia.

Wildlife Trade

Captive dolphin show

Wildlife entertainment

Otter cafe in Tokyo

Exotic pets

Tiger in a cage, Thailand

Traditional medicine

Pigs, Latin America

Farmed animals

Seal with fishing gear

Sea change

Kangaroo in burned bush after Australian bushfires

Disasters

A community dog seeks shade under a car in Sierra Leone, where World Animal Protection's partner group Sierra Leone Animal Welfare Society (SLAWS) began a campaign of rabies vaccinations in Freetown.. Credit Line: World Animal Protection / Michael Duff

Communities

Crocodile in restrictive enclosure, Northern Territory, Australia.

Wildlife trade

Image credit: Dean Sewell 

Every day, thousands of wild animals are poached, farmed or sold into the global multi-billion-dollar wildlife trade – for food, pets, traditional medicine, entertainment and fashion products.

  • The truth about global wildlife farming

Bred for profit  

  • South Africa´s commercial lion industry should shut down

Putting a stop to cruelty  

  • Wild birds suffer for fashion

Feathers are the New Fur

  • Wild animals suffer for fashion

Cruelty is out of fashion

  • Peru’s markets put animals and people at risk

Risky business 

  • Ethiopian Airlines is fuelling global wildlife trade

Cargo of cruelty

  • The trade in Australian saltwater crocodile skins

Fashion victims

  • The G20 must end the global wildlife trade

Protect our world from pandemics

Dolphin show in Tenerife

Wildlife not entertainers

From wild animal selfies to swimming with dolphins and elephant riding to petting lion cubs and taking tiger selfies, cruelty to animals in the entertainment industry is rampant.

  • How tourism profits from cruel Taiji dolphin hunts in Japan

Waves of Profit

  • Tourism entertainment in Bali & Lombok harms wildlife

Holidays that Harm

  • Aussie wildlife venues exploit animals for experiences that are unnatural and distressing

Too Close For Comfort

  • The rise of fake “animal rescue” videos on YouTube

Views that abuse

  • Welfare conditions for captive elephants in tourism

Elephants. Not commodities

  • The multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry

Behind the smile

  • The suffering of captive wild animals at zoos & aquariums linked to WAZA

The Show Can't Go On

  • The lives of captive marine mammals are impoverished

Against Mammals in Captivity 

  • Travel trade associations are ignoring wild animal abuse

Associated With Cruelty 

  • Entertainment tourism in Bali, Lombok and Gili Trawangan

Wildlife Abusement Parks 

  • The harmful impact of wildlife selfies in the Amazon

A Close Up On Cruelty 

  • The conditions for elephants used in tourism in Asia

Taken For a Ride

  • A portrait of Thailand’s tiger entertainment industry

Tiger Selfies Exposed 

  • How to end wildlife tourism’s holiday horrors

Checking Out of Cruelty 

  • A continued case for change

The Cayman Turtle Farm 

Otter cafe in Tokyo

Wildlife not pets

Image credit: World Animal Protection / Aaron Gekoski

Each year, millions of wild animals are captured from their natural habitats or born into captivity, just to become pets. Our houses are not suitable homes for a wild animal.

  • Uncovering the cruelty of the global trade in Ball pythons

Suffering in Silence

  • Exploiting Africa's wildlife 

The 'Big 5' and 'Little 5' Report 

  • A social media craze is fueling otters' demise

Otters as Pets in Southeast Asia

  • The hidden cruelty behind the exotic pet trade of African grey parrots

Wild at Heart 

Tiger in a cage, Thailand

Wildlife not medicine

The demand for traditional Asian medicine is threatening wildlife populations around the world. From big cat farms to pangolin poaching, iconic animals are being pushed to the bring of extinction to fuel a scientifically unproven practice.

  • The industry behind bear bile production & how to end it 

Cruel Cures

  • Big cat farming fuels the traditional Asian medicine industry

Trading Cruelty 

  • Investigating pangolin poaching in Hassam, India

Suffering at Scale 

  • Suriname's jaguar trade exposed 

Uncovering a Secret Slaughter 

  • A deeper look at the international bear bile trade

Unbearable 

Mother pig in a crate, Latin America

Farm animals

The vast majority of farm animals live in factory farms that cause suffering and stress. It’s time to rethink farming.

  • Australian fast-food companies lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to chicken welfare

Fast Food, Slow Progress

  • Reduce the carbon footprint of fast-food consumption with plant-based options

Shifting the Menu

  • Moving towards humane & more sustainable protein

The Protein Switch

  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Australian supermarket meats

Centre to Impact AMR

  • Governments around the world turned a blind eye to the public health toll of factory farming

The Hidden Health Impact of Industrial Livestock

  • Factory farms contaminate public water courses on 3 continents

Silent superbug killers in a river near you 

  • Antibiotic use in Australian animal agriculture

Antimicrobial use governance in the food animal sector 

  • Assessing how global fast-food brands are responding to the chicken crisis

The Pecking Order 2021 

  • (BBFAW) A leading global measure of farm animal welfare 2020 

Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare

  • Animal welfare and European financial links with deforestation in the Amazon and Cerrado

Big meat. Big bucks. Bigger harm 

  • Factory farming and the rise of superbugs

Fuelling the pandemic crisis 

  • Making the financial case for more humane chicken production

Valuing higher welfare chicken 

  • How leading global fast-food companies are failing the chickens their businesses depend on

The Pecking Order 2018 

  • (BBFAW) A leading global measure of farm animal welfare 2018

Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare Report 

  • How higher welfare farming is better for pigs and people

Pork and the Superbug Crisis 

  • Exposing the facts of factory farming

A Pig's Tale 

  • Demand for chicken meat continues to rise, worsening their suffering

Exposing the secret suffering of chickens farmed for meat

Seal with fishing gear

Sea Change

Image credit: John Mancrieff

A staggering 640,000 tons of abandoned fishing gear (ghost gear) is left in our oceans each year. This gear traps, mutilates, and kills hundreds of thousands of animals annually.

  • Fishing gear’s catastrophic impact on our oceans, and the urgent action needed from industry

Ghosts Beneath the Waves (2nd Edition)

  • Ghost gear’s catastrophic impact on our oceans, and the urgent action needed from industry 

Ghosts Beneath the Waves (1st Edition) 

  • How ghost fishing gear is endangering our sea life

Fishing's Phantom Menace 

Kangaroo in the wild during the Australia bushfires

Animals in disasters

Image credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Disasters injure and kill millions of animals each year. When disasters hit, animals experience the same terrible effects as people: injury, starvation, thirst, displacement, illness and stress.

  • An updated assessment of Australia's animal related planning for, and response to, disasters

Animals in disasters 

Stray dog in Sierra Leone

Animals in communities

Image credit: Michael Duff

Millions of dogs are culled each year – in fruitless efforts to stop rabies spreading. Culling dogs is not the solution to rabies. The only way to eliminate the virus is through vaccination.

  • How dogs hold the solution to ending human rabies by 2030

All eyes on dogs