Wildlife Tourism, Environmental Learning and Ethical Encounters

Here, we engage with the political and ecological story of the yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes), a major tourist attraction, during four years of dramatically declining numbers of breeding pairs (New Zealand Department of Conservation in Unpublished census of yellow-eyed penguin breeding pairs 2015–16, 2016). One site, Long Point, is useful for presenting the possibilities of thematic integration since, using the principles of reintroduction biology (Seddon et al. in Conserv Biol 21(2):303–312, 2007; Armstrong and Seddon in Trends Ecol Evol 23:20–25, 2008), it is being used specifically to produce habitat for seabirds, rather than the more traditional restoration ecology approach. Also, the demands of tourism, for example to show respect through product offering (Zhang and Shelton in Tourism Anal 20(3):343–353, 2015) are, from the outset, being reinterpreted and integrated into the design and management of the site. Political ecology of tourism (Mostafanezhad et al. in Political ecology of tourism: communities, power and the environment. Routledge, London, pp 1–22, 2016) potentially is a fruitful analytic tool for formulating such thematic integration of ‘wildlife tourism’, ‘applied ecology’, and ‘environmental education and interpretation’. Political ecology emerged as a critique of an allegedly apolitical cultural ecology and ecological anthropology, and illustrates the unavoidable entanglement of political economy with ecological concerns (Zimmerer in Prog Hum Geogr 32(1):63–78, 2006). Also, political ecology has been described as ‘an urgent kind of argument or text … that examines winners or losers, is narrating using dialectics, begins and/or ends in a contradiction, and surveys both the status of nature and stories about the status of nature’ (Robbins in Political ecology: a critical introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, New York, 2004, p. viii). Relevant examples of such narratives include Shelton and Tucker’s (Tourism Rev Int 11(3):205–212, 2008, p. 198) text that constituted ‘the restoration narrative … central to the long-term viability of tourism in New Zealand because environmental preservation, conservation and restoration facilitate the continuation, and possible expansion, of nature-based tourism’ and Reis and Shelton’s (Tourism Anal 16(3):375–384, 2011, p. i) demonstration that ‘nature-based tourism activities are highly modulated by how Nature has been constructed in modern Western societies.’ It is this textual, discursive approach that differentiates political ecology from other approaches to issues surrounding ‘natural area tourism’, for example, the impacts approach of Newsome et al. (Natural Area Tourism: Ecology, impacts and management. Channel View Publications, Bristol, 2013).

Wildlife tourism encompasses a wide range of tourism experiences that involve encounters for tourists with non-domesticated animals which are either free ranging or captive and includes zoos and nature parks. Wildlife tourism is a growing industry, which is reflected in the number and variety of activities on offer and the increase of tourism businesses offering them. Its growing popularity can contribute to local economies and have major impacts on wildlife and their habitats. It can thus benefit conservation by direct wildlife management, supporting research and educating visitors on conservation, while its revenue is considered to be a growing method of conserving wildlife, particularly for those species threatened or endangered, and particularly where government expenditure on conservation is limited or unavailable. However, while sustainability is a wildlife tourism goal which is widely accepted and adopted by governments and businesses, this requires management processes to identify negative effects, implement actions to correct them as well as conducting ongoing monitoring, ideally from the outset of the project. This chapter describes and discusses the Hidden Vale Project—a long term endeavour on private land which aims to combine wildlife conservation with a range of other activities including livestock production, wildlife tourism/ecotourism and adventure activities.

This chapter will focus on one, a rather specific but popular type of wildlife tourism, that is known as birdwatching tourism. Within Rwanda, the proposition of enjoying nature and more specific wildlife has traditionally focused on the observation of mountain gorillas in their natural habitat, but this resource has a certain scarcity and limitations, and only allows for a restricted amount of visitors. However, the composition of the bird fauna of more than 700 species (Van de Weghe and Van de weghe in Birds in Rwanda, an atlas and handbook, Rwanda development Board, Kigali, 2011) on an area of only 26.338 km² (10.169 sq. miles) seems to offer new possibilities for tourism product development and might even contribute to the creation of employment opportunities for the local population. But this possible development depends on certain factors ranging from political will and infrastructure and other facilities to the training of local guides, to name but a few and can only be accomplished when the hosts have a clear picture of demands and expectations of their bird watching guests. This chapter offers a first attempt at classifying these guests, based on both international examples and an overview of the Belgian-Dutch bird watching travel market and offers some recommendations on how to proceed with the marketing of these natural resources. For this chapter, a mixed method approach, among them desk research, interviews with Dutch and Rwandan stakeholders and participatory observation was used to collect the relevant data.

Taken as an activity on the rise in the contemporary world, tourism increasingly leans towards natural areas, especially coastal regions. Brazil stands out for its extensive coastline and attractions related to sun and beach. However, the interaction between tourism and these ecosystems is not much debated. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, a unique coastline can be found. This region has the most extensive coastal plain of Brazil, with 37,000 km² and about 100 freshwater shallow lakes along its coastline. Geological processes, combined with a specific biological system, have conditioned a differentiated landscape in the region, composed of an ecosystem mosaic of sand dunes, restinga forest formations, wetlands and shallow lakes, which harbor their own biodiversity, including human beings that depend on these ecosystems for survival. Such resources are constantly under pressure of human activities, tourism among them, since touristic activities in these environments do not take into account their fragility. As a result, several fauna and flora species are damaged by the pursuit of human leisure, as well as by mismanagement of water resources. Thus, this study aims to discuss the relations between tourism and the freshwater environments, seeking to quantify the lack of knowledge about the species inhabiting these ecosystems, which affects sustainable practices planning. This study shows that, even in the presence of unique landscapes in scenarios of great beauty and frail ecosystems, the rich biodiversity is impacted by urbanization. Human activities affect the lakes environmental quality, harming biodiversity and tourism development in the region. Management models need to undergo changes, through the implementation of environmental education programs and promoting new forms of tourism, like scientific tourism, and wildlife conservation.

The Chobe National Park River Front (CNPRF) is renowned for a high population and variety of wildlife species in Botswana. The park has become popular for nature-based tourism and wildlife safaris. With increased numbers of wildlife tourists there have been reports on problems of overuse and vehicle congestion in some parts of the Chobe National Park. In order to mitigate crowding and vehicle congestion on the popular Chobe River Front route, the DWNP introduced and implemented Upper and Nogatshaa routes. The purpose of the study is to assess wildlife tourists’ frequency of use and potential environmental impacts on the Chobe River Front, Nogatshaa and Upper routes of the Chobe National Park. Data were collected in June 2013. A semi-structured questionnaire and face-to-face interviews were employed to elicit information from guides operating from fixed lodges, guides from mobile tour safaris and wildlife officials based at Sedudu gate. In addition, participant observation was also used to collect additional data for this study. The results revealed that the Chobe River Front of the CNP was heavily utilized by wildlife tourists, followed by the Upper route and the least used was Nogatshaa. The Chobe River Front route was the most preferred, while Nogatshaa is the least preferred route. The study revealed that there are benefits associated with the newly created vehicle decongestion routes at the CNP. Observations have been made to indicate that the two new routes have relatively relieved the Chobe River Front from tourist vehicle pressure; lessened the congestion of tourist vehicles particularly at animal sightings or encounters of predators (leopards, lions), have relatively relieved the Chobe River Front from tourist vehicle pressure; lessened the congestion of tourist vehicles particularly at animal sightings or encounters specifically predators (leopard, wild dogs, lions) and also creation of a few waterpoints along the Upper and Nogatshaa routes appears to have contributed towards spreading of wild animals over a large area thereby alleviating competition for foraging and water and thereby reducing grassing pressure at the CRF. However, there are still issues of congestion during game drives particularly along the River bank route and at the CRF viewing site. Hence, we still can make a general statement that the decongestion strategy that was meant to alleviate tour operators and tourists’ traffic pressure from the Chobe River Front has possibly not achieved the intended purpose as yet. Managerial implications include improving the use of Upper and Nogatshaa routes by providing better facilities and service to all types of visitors and tourists to make it appealing. It is recommended that the park management should consider devising a strategy to attempt to demarket the Chobe River Front route to reduce visitor pressure, vehicle congestion and alleviate negative impact on animals and associated resources of the CNP.

The desirable outcomes of interpretation in a wildlife setting include the stimulation of visitor intent to minimise impacts and maximise support for the marine environment and its wildlife. Existing frameworks and models of wildlife tourism focus on interpretation and the cognitive domain. However, wildlife tourism encounters, especially with whales and dolphins, can be intense, emotional, powerful and profound affective experiences. Theory and models from experiential education were more relevant and applicable for exploring synergistic relationships between the affective and cognitive domains that resulted in changes in attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and actions. This paper investigates the interactive effects between the intensity of wild dolphin tourism experiences in the presence of education/interpretation commentaries on: overall satisfaction levels; changes in knowledge; and changes in pro-environmental attitudes, beliefs, intended behaviours and intended actions of participants. A multiple case study approach was used to collect data on six matched and paired dolphin tourism activities which varied in intensity and educational and interpretive input. Chi-square, one and two-way ANOVAs and MANOVA analyses (with a reduced number of factors) were used on data from 600 structured self-administered questionnaires. Results suggested that high intensity wild dolphin experiences are highly satisfying, and that the overall satisfaction of participants is not enhanced by the inclusion of a high quality interpretation component. High intensity wildlife experiences in themselves appear to have significant educative impact or power which can impede positive effects of high quality interpretation commentaries on increases of knowledge of participants and intended pro-environmental behaviour change. Minimal information in these intense instances appears to gain maximum impacts—so interpretive staff should let the oceans speak! However, as the intensity of wildlife experiences decrease, the quality and presence of interpretation in wild dolphin encounters play a greater part in enhancing overall satisfaction, knowledge of participants, pro-environmental attitudes and beliefs, and intended behaviours and actions. Therefore, as the intensity level of wild dolphin encounters decrease, guides need to deliver increasingly high quality commentaries as essential inputs of the tourist experience.

The aim of this chapter on Australian wildlife and tourism is manifold. It discusses the major existing elements necessary for consolidating an educative wildlife tourism within an experiential learning perspective for the visitors by considering some aspects of Kolb’s theory. The chapter is concerned with ecological and biological resources, and related phenomena, that are relevant for a meaningful environmental interpretation and education; one of the foundations for an educative tourism together with conservation. The chapter begins by presenting the current protected areas in Australia and their relevance as natural settings and habitats for wild animals and tourism. The discussion continues by critically appraising the role of rangers in managing protected areas, natural resources and visitors. The role of rangers and guides in Parks is fundamental for enhancing visitors’ experiences and understanding of natural and cultural settings, landscapes, wildlife, and ecosystems. Rangers also play an important role in promoting visitor education as a way of mitigating possible negative impacts in sensitive natural areas. Yet, the chapter outlines the most popular wild animals by providing a comprehensive description of koalas, kangaroos and Tasmanian devils. The biofacts, physical characteristics, behaviour and pertinent ecological aspects are presented to demonstrate how rich and important wildlife is for tourism, especially for an educative learning tourism that can contribute to connect humans to nature in many ways. The chapter was written based on the outcomes of post-doctoral research qualitatively oriented, based on the pertinent literature, active and observant participation, and on the analysis of websites and documents. Considering a relative paucity of publication on educative wildlife tourism, the chapter seeks to fill some gaps in the literature and to advance the debates on the importance of conservation and protection of wildlife resources within an environmental science perspective.

The TAMAR Project (Marine Turtle Project) has focused on the research and conservation of sea turtles along the Brazilian coast since 1980, with 23 research bases and nine visitor centers throughout the country. On the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (Northeast of Brazil), the TAMAR works since 1984, because it is a strategic location for food and nesting of these kind of turtles. Fernando de Noronha is one of the country’s leading ecotourism destinations. It is a National Park, a Biosphere Reserve, and a proposed UNESCO Geopark project is being developed. The turtles were important in the recognition of the area as a World Heritage Site, also designated by UNESCO. In Noronha, TAMAR’s efforts are in scientific research activities, conservation and management, environmental education, awareness, and community action. Understanding the importance of environmental awareness, the TAMAR project develops various activities that allow participation by the public. These include turtle nest openings, “tartarugada” (activity during the night, when the turtle makes nest on the beaches) and intentional capture of sea turtles. There are nightly exhibitions and environmental education talks at the Visitor Center. During the daylight hours, the team seeks out and captures turtles by diving and snorkeling for the sole purpose of research to support the sustainability of the turtles. Tourists have the opportunity to follow this exciting field research, and they are encouraged to take pictures and interact with the turtles. This high degree of interaction develops awareness about the importance of field research and the importance of conservation and research in Noronha.

This chapter will consider the history of whale and dolphin watching as a tourism activity, based on visitors’ experiences. The analysis was based on 468 visitors’ comments on a familiar travel forum under the four categories developed in Ballantyne, Packer and Sutherland’s research in (Tourism Management 32(4):770–779, 2011b). These categories are sensory impressions, emotional affinity, reflective response, and behavioural response. The comments were analysed using a content analysis method. It was found that the behavioural response dimension reported by visitors was lower than the other experience dimensions. The study concluded with some suggestions for both business owners and wildlife tourism researchers.

Contemporary life has caused human to become estranged from nature and in the present day we observe people’s efforts to return to nature. These efforts have generated changes in the tourism industry and alternative holidays are planned for tourists who seek unique, authentic experiences which require a more active participation. At this point wildlife tourism is capable of responding to the requirements and needs of tourists as well as the industry. Wildlife interactions occur in a wide range of settings worldwide. Tourists can observe, feed, touch and/or photograph the wild animals and their experiences have been getting more important to develop this area. Although there are various investigations in countries such as Nepal, Indonesia, Uganda, Kenya, Costa Rica, there is little research about wildlife tourism in Turkey. Therefore, this chapter presents information about wildlife tourism, its attractions and visitors’ motivations and experiences in Turkey. ‘Wildlife tourism’ in Turkey is not named segmentedly like that, and it is instead mentioned as being part of hunting tourism and ecotourism in the country. Thus, there aren’t special strategies or plans for developing this tourism type in the country. It hasn’t also been considered and attempt to enhance visitors’ learning experiences. However, zoo visitors’ learning experiences at zoo have been reported in this study. Therefore academic research about wildlife tourism and visitors’ experiences should be increased in the country. Clarification of wildlife tourism, determination of main attractions and marketing as a tourism product must be extended in Turkey.

Whether captive or non-captive, consumptive or non-consumptive, targeted or non-targeted, guided or non-guided, wildlife tourism activities have traditionally been dominated by an anthropocentric worldview that recognizes wildlife only for its extrinsic value. This chapter argues that the advent of the Anthropocene provides an opportunity for humans to accept responsibility for how they engage with animals in tourism settings and ethically reassess this engagement. Reviewing theories of ethics dealing with animals, tourism, the environment and conservation, the conclusion is drawn that in order to effectively manage wildlife tourism for the equitable benefit of both humans and wildlife, and thus create a viable wildlife tourism ethic, valuable lessons can be extracted from an approach that embodies compassionate conservation.

“What does it matter if a few Skippies are disturbed?” was the rhetorical retort of one tourism operator to the idea of minimal-impact wildlife-viewing. The most reasonable answer to this would probably be “maybe not at all or maybe quite a lot, depending on the situation”. Wildlife tourism, even with some unavoidable impacts, is often better than alternative land uses, but should be conducted responsibly, with a view to minimising impact on animal welfare and conservation as well as with consideration of other tour operations and local residents. This chapter explores some of the ethical considerations of disturbance of wildlife on tour, including driving animals away from feeding, breeding or resting areas, feeding of wildlife and stress related to close approach or other activity, in both wild and captive situations. Most of what we know so far involves the effects on individual animals. Further research is needed on how much the disturbances influence population numbers if we are to understand conservation implications, which can also be important for the satisfaction of human residents and visitors who want to continue watching wildlife. More research is also needed on animal welfare aspects such as activities that may cause serious levels of stress and how to determine same.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the land-use conflict between wildlife watching tourism and reindeer herding, and to present an analytical framework for studying conflict resolution mechanisms. The paper addresses the need for careful management of conflicts in wilderness and remote areas in circumstances where a new industry meets traditional users of lands. Particularly interesting from the viewpoint of this paper are areas and resources that have the potential to become predictive of conflictual intersectoral relations. Conflict resolution mechanisms elaborated by impartial experts and crucial stakeholders consist of legislative proposals and voluntary actions which address the sensitivity of the issue, as well as local traditions in land-use. This paper proposes a conflict resolution model, in which collaborative conflict anatomy identification, impartial expert involvement, tourism industry codes of practices, and legislative proposals aim at bringing the intersectoral conflict to a manageable level. The model adds to the social sustainability of competing land usage by offering a venue for collaboration and local community influence on decision-making.

Apart from displaying many facets of the ambiguous relationship of humans and animals, zoos and aquariums are also a significant part of the tourism industry. Their supposed goals are visitor education, visitor entertainment, species conservation and behavioural animal research. It seems therefore reasonable to describe those institutions as an ark for endangered species. However, the role of zoos in modern societies is more and more called into question. Their main purpose is described as visitor entertainment (to create economic benefits) covered up by conservation, education and research claims. Arguably, some would like to see their demise, while others propose changes that include an alternative, but more sustainable version of zoos and aquariums: wildlife parks and wildlife sanctuaries that focus on the well-being of the animals.

Hunting tourism plays important roles in the conservation of wildlife; hunters provide financial support for conservation programs and habitat protection, assist in the monitoring of wildlife populations, and play important roles in population management (Heffelfinger et al. in Int J Environ Stud 70(3):399–413, 2013). These conservation roles indirectly benefit host communities through the stewardship of wildlife populations and the protection of habitats. The hunting of waterfowl is a popular form of hunting tourism; however, the number of North American waterfowl hunters has been declining since the mid-1970s (NAWMP Revised objectives: an addendum to the 2012 North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, 2014). Although a number of conservation and waterfowl hunting organizations and government programs offer educational and mentorship programs to promote waterfowl hunting and retain hunters, declines in the number of waterfowl hunters continues. This chapter examines constraints to hunting tourism and explores waterfowl hunters’ motivations in an effort to understand what influences decisions to participate in waterfowl hunting as a nature-based tourism activity. Using a deductive approach, this chapter employs self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan in J Mind Behav 1(1):33–43, 1980), the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen in Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50(2):179–211, 1991), and leisure constraints theory (Crawford et al. in Leisure Sci 13(4):309–320, 1991) to guide a thematic analysis. Thirty-four waterfowl hunters, representing a range of skill levels and commitment to the activity, were interviewed in three Canadian provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) about the factors that influenced their decisions to hunt waterfowl. These factors included structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints, and attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. We contrast the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings. Findings of this qualitative research inform tourism, outdoor recreation, and wildlife managers and planners to develop strategies for the recruitment and retention of hunting tourists and help retain the local ecological and economic benefits of waterfowl hunting.

This conclusion chapter offers a summary of key contributions of each chapter, gathering the main conceptual approaches and major issues of the case studies presented in the volume. A recurring theme is the importance of quality interpretation for visitors and tourism businesses in the wildlife tourism sector. As readers will have noted, the chapters encompass a range of wildlife topics to varied audiences to convey information, a sense of wonder and concern for conservation. The authors have sought to present their topics bias-free by balancing ecological and anthropocentric views, but the welfare and conservation of wildlife used as tourism attractions, whether captive, semi-captive or in the wild, has been of major concern. Ethical and moral issues pervade the discussions on human-animal encounters, particularly in situations where wildlife has apparently been over-exploited for entertaining visitors. While extreme cases such as obvious abuses of animal welfare and practices that threatened endangered species are easy to condemn, the debates are often not so easy to resolve with the simple answers that many hope for. Emotions are often high when pros and cons of various tourism operations are discussed, but there remains much that we do not know about pressures on the ecological needs of wildlife and the seriousness of stress imposed on individual animals. Much further research related to some of the impasses and deadlocks related to wildlife tourism planning and management would be valuable for future publications. For example, some argue that the 'end of zoos' should become a future reality, or that zoos should be replaced by sanctuaries, while others point to valuable work by zoos supporting conservation, caring for rescued wildlife, educating the public and conducting research. There will also be many readers who will be uncomfortable with the chapter on hunting, while others will maintain that although we must remain vigilant on the welfare and conservation implications, without hunters many areas that retain most of their natural attributes would never have been protected and may not remain protected into the future if all hunting is banned. Management of both animals and people is crucial to truly sustainable wildlife tourism, to mediate the interaction with wildlife in tourism contexts and incorporate compassionate and conservation-based ideology. Integration of different disciplines is essential, which may be a novel approach for many and call for innovative goals, research and management plans.