Ecotourism Takes Toll on Wildlife
Date: 05-Mar-04
Country: UK
Biologists and conservationists are worried because polar bears, dolphins, penguins and other creatures are getting stressed and losing weight and some are dying.
"Evidence is growing that many animals do not react well to tourists in their backyard," New Scientist magazine said this week.
The immediate effects researchers have noticed are changes in behavior, heart rates, or stress hormone levels but they fear it could get much worse and over the long term "could endanger the survival of the very wildlife they want to see."
Although money generated through ecotourism, which has been growing at about 10-30 percent a year, has major benefits for poor countries and people living in rural areas, the Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN) and some governments fear not all projects are audited and based on environmentally friendly policies, according to the magazine.
"Transmission of disease to wildlife, or subtle changes to wildlife health through disturbance of daily routines or increased stress levels, while not apparent to the casual observer, may translate to lower survival and breeding," said Philip Seddon, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Scientists have noticed that bottleneck dolphins along the northeastern coast of New Zealand become frenetic when tourist boats arrive. Similar changes in behavior have been observed in polar bears and yellow-eyed penguins in areas visited by ecotourists are producing smaller chicks.
Conservationists are now calling for more research into the impact of ecotourism on animals and say the industry must be developed cautiously. They also want studies done before new ecotourism projects are started.
"The animals' welfare should be paramount because without them there will be no ecotourism," said Rochelle Constantine of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.