TripAdvisor Will Stop Selling Tickets For Wild Animal Attractions

TripAdvisor will stop selling tickets to hundreds of animal-centric attractions.

The travel website announced the decision Wednesday as part of an effort to protect wild, captive and endangered creatures from the dangers of tourism.

When all is said and done, customers won't be able to book elephant rides, swimming-with-dolphin excursions and other similar activities.

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TripAdvisor says it will keep attractions on its site in the review section even if they're no longer bookable. Those posts will be marked with a "PAW" icon, which will link users to an educational portal. 

According to National Geographic, attractions like these can cause "psychological and physical trauma" in the animals and even shorten their lives.

That's why animal activists have been pressuring TripAdvisor to stop promoting wildlife tourist attractions, which account for between 20 and 40 percent of all tourism worldwide. 

TripAdvisor will continue to sell tickets for zoos, horseback-riding facilities, aquariums and other places that allow supervised interaction for educational purposes.

The company hopes to have the booking policy changes fully in place by early 2017.