Read this Wildlife Art Journal article

[EDITOR'S NOTE:  A year ago, when we published Thomas Mangelsen's essay, below, about commercial wildlife game farms, we were inundated with emails. Most people agreed with Mangelsen's analysis, but some wildlife artists defended the industry, saying that they have paid visits to captive animal facilities to take photographs for use as reference material. And, in some cases, they have friendships with the owners of the facilities. Since Mangelsen's essay appeared, a few game farms have closed down and a story on the industry by writer Ted Williams appeared in Audubon Magazine. More recently, a new book, Shooting In The Wild: An Insider's Account Of Making Movies In The Wild, was written by renowned wildlife cinematographer Chris Palmer that raises ethical and moral questions about how movies are made.  If you have comments, we welcome them.  Please share them at the bottom of the page].



By Thomas Mangelsen  


Game farm photography is not an issue that is broadly understood by the public.

So imagine genetically wild animals born in captivity, incarcerated for life, only to be paroled and paraded for profit, then you will getthe gist of a game farm picture.

Although I have spoken out against game farm photography for many years, for reasons I discuss below, I feel it is more important thanever to educate people about the practice. I feel that there are numerous issues that have been swept under the rug.

Not only am I concerned about...