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One of the attractions when travelling away from the UK is seeing the fascinating variety of animals which live in other countries either in the wild or in zoos and parks, however, they could well be a source of holiday injury to the unwary.
The safari parks of southern and eastern Africa are mostly well supervised and safety of visitors is taken extremely seriously because of the importance of tourism to the economy.
A spate of bad publicity over deaths or serious injuries caused by wild animals could result in a major drop in the numbers wanting to get close to nature.
Escorts, armed with rifles, always accompany visitors when they leave the camps or lodges for close-up views of animals such as elephants, lions, hippos and zebra, and staff seek to minimise all risks by emphasising the need for certain behaviour so as not to arouse ferocity in a wild creature.
The guides are well trained and experienced and the animals themselves, particularly in the most popular parks, are quite used to seeing vehicles so less likely to feel threatened by humans unless they do something unexpected.
On a self-guided safari holiday, it will be up to the individual visitors themselves to ensure their own health and safety but no reputable company will hire out vehicles without issuing guidance on avoiding risks.
Providing holiday-makers are sensible, keep to guidelines and are not unlucky enough to suffer a vehicle breakdown or similar unplanned incident, they are likely to enjoy a holiday of a lifetime without suffering a personal injury caused by an animal.
The situation is rather different in zoos or tourist attractions with animals in cages or restricted areas because customers who pay to view the site will expect a much higher standard of safety to protect them from bites or scratches inflicted by the zoo's inhabitants.
However, visitors from the UK may be rather alarmed by the quality of maintenance and safeguards in other countries compared with domestic wildlife centres and they should be aware of any risks from animals, such as a monkey grabbing for food or elephant pushing too closely looking for titbits.
In such situations, there may not be sufficient supervision by zoo staff, which could then be held liable if a creature inflicts an injury on a visitor.
Aquariums and similar centres featuring aquatic mammals should present fewer risks to the public because they will not be in close proximity to the wildlife, however, if there are smaller open tanks of fish or jellyfish, situations could arise whereby a bite or sting is inflicted.
Monkeys, birds of prey or snakes are sometimes used in foreign countries as a means of making money for local people when they are offered as props for a tourist photograph followed by a demand for cash in exchange for the souvenir. Visitors in these situations should take particular care of their own safety even if they are willing participants because of the unpredictable behaviour of these creatures.
If a package tour operator has arranged for visitors to view animal attractions where a holiday injury subsequently occurs, the company may be liable for some of the responsibility for harm as well as the owner of the creatures.
Holiday injury help from YouClaim
A bite, scratch or other wound caused by a wild animal is not the sort of souvenir any tourist wishes to bring home but if you have suffered from this type of holiday injury and feel someone else was at fault in causing the situation to arise, you may have grounds for claiming compensation.
YouClaim's personal injury lawyers are available throughout the UK to help resolve such cases and most clients are eligible for our no win system, meaning 100% of compensation won will be paid over without deductions.
Our solicitors are regularly checked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to ensure the highest standards so don't delay if you or a loved one wish to make a claim because proceedings must start within three years of an incident occurring.
Contact us today by telephone on 0800 10 757 95 or by completing a claim form on this webpage, give us some basic information and one of our helpful legal staff will get back to you.
