Sir Mark Rylance Urges Tourists to Avoid Cruel Bear Shows in New Video
“Wherever you see bears performing, they’re suffering,” says Oscar winner Sir Mark Rylance in a new video.
The video details how travelling shows torment bears, from chaining and muzzling them to preventing them from digging, roaming, hibernating, and doing anything else that’s natural and important to them.
Bears are highly intelligent, curious animals who have evolved to roam vast distances, yet in captivity, they’re typically confined to barren cages, often on concrete slabs that can cause arthritis, paw-pad issues, and pressure sores as well as severe psychological distress.
In the video, Mark criticises the use of animals for entertainment:
Speaking as an actor, we should be clever enough to entertain people ourselves without putting animals through this kind of torture. Please don’t buy a ticket to an event – a circus, a fair, any event – where you see a bear performing.
Since 2012, PETA US has rescued more than 72 captive bears and transferred them to reputable sanctuaries where, as Mark describes, “[the] rescued bears are thriving in huge habitats where they can spend their days roaming and foraging on natural terrain, swimming in ponds or pools, and living the way bears were always meant to live.”
The theatre icon and Ready Player One star also sat down for an exclusive video interview with PETA in which he shared his philosophy on animal rights.
I think people will look back in horror at our treatment of animals today. There could be such a richer, more valuable relationship for us with animals. This ruling cosmology of the world at the moment that we are somehow separate from nature, that we are not animals ourselves […] is so isolating and solitary for people – and just not true.
He even reveals that he has adopted a vegetarian diet and hopes to go vegan!
Try Going Vegan, Too!Mark joins a long list of celebrities – including Alicia Silverstone, Eva Mendes, Penélope Cruz, Tom Hardy, Gillian Anderson, Alan Cumming, Joaquin Phoenix, and many others – who have teamed up with PETA and our affiliates to help protect animals.
Animal-Friendly Travel
While on holiday, we often come across animal “attractions” – whether an elephant trek, a marine park, or a roadside zoo. Many sound appealing to people who love being around animals, but it’s the animals who pay the price – they spend their lives in captivity just to satisfy tourists who want to have a close encounter with them.
If you care about animals, steer clear of any activity that uses them to draw in tourists:
