Wilderness of Wildlife Tourism

Johra Kayeser Fatima

• Publisher: Apple Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9781315341590
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Wildlife tourism is a growing multimillion-dollar industry within the hospitality and tourism industry. Wildlife tourism, in its simplest sense, is the creation of tour packages for watching wild animals in their natural habitats, and is particularly important in African and South American countries, Australia, India, Canada, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, among others. This new book brings together the best voices in the field of wildlife tourism and provides a key understanding of wildlife tourism. It explores many important aspects of wildlife to date with related implications for various sectors, such as technology, education, corporations, and policymaking.

CHAPTER 1

A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF THE NATURE OF WILDLIFE TOURISM

DAVID NEWSOME^*

Environment and Conservation Sciences Group, School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

^*E-mail: [email protected]

CONTENTS

Abstract

Keywords

References

ABSTRACT

Wildlife tourism is very broad in its scope and requires the attention of many disciplines in order to understand the specific organism, whole ecology, and social dimensions of the subject. Whale shark tours in Australia provide a good example of sustainable wildlife tourism.

“…wildlife tourism is a complex mix of the social, biological and ecological sciences”

Today wildlife tourism is a complex mix of the social, biological, and ecological sciences. Understanding its human and ecological dimensions involves the protected area management aspects of environmental science, wildlife behavioral ecology, physiology, recreation ecology, biochemistry, statistics, human psychology, tourism studies, economics, marketing, environmental policy, and legislative frameworks. This mix of eclectic subjects makes its study complex and multidisciplinary in nature and is additionally complicated because of the involvement of a wide range of species, locations, and management scenarios. Species differ greatly in their tolerance to human disturbance as well as sites requiring different management protocols and infrastructure depending on the tourism product. Furthermore, there are different modes of access (on foot, via car, and via boat), and humans differ greatly in their attitudes and expectations. People may want to photograph, touch, and feed wildlife, and human understanding of wildlife differs according to age, sex, and culture. Moreover, there are many different types wildlife tourism products around the world (e.g., see Table 1.1). These products range from bird watching, feeding birds, viewing coral reefs, night walks, and the viewing of nocturnal species to swimming with whales, dolphins, and whale sharks.

The success of whale shark tours in Western Australia has led the industry being considered as an example of world best practice (Mau, 2008). One of the best ways to assess quality is via the client education, sustainable practices, and training processes of tour operators and the experiences of tourists engaged in whale shark activities. Patterson (2008) explored tourist satisfaction, perceptions of potential negative impacts of the tours on the sharks, compliance with management rules, whether there was a high level of tour operator management to reduce potential impacts, and whether there was any education and research conducted into whale shark conservation. Patterson (2008) confirmed that the industry operates according to strict regulations and a code of conduct such as adhering to a maximum ratio of swimmers to sharks at any one time of 10:1, swimmers to approach to only a maximum of 3 m from the shark, and no touching permitted. Motorized floatation devices and the use of “duck-diving” technique or the use of SCUBA gear are also not permitted.

In terms of the boat-based aspects of the operation, boats are to approach no closer than 30 m from the sharks with a maximum speed of 8 knots. No other vessel is allowed to come within 250 m of contact zone of the boat that is currently engaged in whale shark interactions. Additional protection is afforded in that vessels may spend a maximum of 60 min within the 250 m contact zone of the shark during an interaction.

TABLE 1.1 Wildlife Tourism Products—An Australian Perspective.

Wildlife tourism product	Example	Location
Glow-worm viewing	Visit to glow-worm sites	Lamington National Park, Qld
Viewing coral reef biota	Snorkel, dive and glass bottom boat tours	Ningaloo Reef, WA
Fish feeding	Glass bottom boat tours	Ningaloo Reef, WA
Swim with whale sharks	Boat-based snorkel tours	Ningaloo Reef, WA
Swim with manta rays	Boat-based snorkel and dive tours	Ningaloo Reef, WA
Cage diving with great white sharks	Boat-based snorkel and dive tours	Neptune Islands, SA
Viewing and feeding crocodiles	Boat-based tours	Adelaide River, NT
Bird watching	Tour operator led bird watching tours	All states, e.g. Coates Wildlife Tours, WA
Bird feeding	Parrot, whipbird and honeyeater feeding	O’Reilly’s Lamington National Park, Qld
Nocturnal mammal viewing in the wild	Tour operator led night spotting tours	Atherton Tableland Qld
Nocturnal mammal viewing within a fenced facility	Private reserves	Karakamia Sanctuary, WA
	National Park Conservation Centers	Barna Mia, Dryandra National Park, WA
Nocturnal mammal feeding	Tasmanian Devil Restaurants	Cradle Mountain, Tas
Dolphin feeding	Beach interaction zone	Monkey Mia, WA
Swim with dolphin tours	Boat-based snorkel and dive tours	Bunbury, WA
Whale watching	Boat-based tours	Hervey Bay, Qld
Swim with whales	Boat-based tours	Minke Whale Tours, Qld
Visits to seal and sealion haul out-sites and breeding colonies	Boat-based tours	Penguin Island and Jurian Bay, WA

Note: WA (Western Australia), Tas (Tasmania), SA (South Australia), NT (Northern Territory), and Qld (Queensland).

Patterson (2008) conducted surveys with tourist participants and found that the level of control, monitoring of codes of conduct, education, and conservation responsibility to be of a high standard in comparison with other existing marine wildlife tours, including other whale shark tours in the North-West and overseas in the Philippines. The series of monitoring techniques, tour practices, and research and education policies with whale sharks were recognized as a benchmark for emerging wildlife tours around the world.

Given the high standards of environmental management evident in Western Australia, while at the same time recognizing potential problems with emerging ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Contributors
• List of Abbreviations
• Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Book Series
• About the Series Editor
• Preface
• 1. A Brief Consideration of the Nature of Wildlife Tourism
• 2. Planning and Development of Wildlife Tourism in Bangladesh
• 3. Assessment of Recreational Services of Natural Landscapes in Third World Tropics Using the Travel Cost Method
• 4. Destination Marketing Approaches for Wildlife Tourism
• 5. Wildlife Tourism: Technology Adoption for Marketing and Conservation
• 6. The Analysis of Tourists’ Involvement in Regard to Dolphin Interactions at the Dolphin Discovery Centre, Bunbury, Western Australia
• 7. Social Preference of Local Communities Towards Wildlife Tourism in the Indian Himalayas
• 8. Local Residents’ Attitude on Wildlife Tourism: Support, Views, Barriers, and Public Engagement
• 9. Contribution of Wildlife Tourism to Tiger Reserves in India
• 10. Managing Wildlife Tourism in Sri Lanka: Opportunities and Challenges
• 11. Status and Prospects for the Future of Wildlife Tourism in Bangladesh
• 12. The Influence of Ecological Attributes and Motivations on Wildlife Tourism: The Case of Birdwatching in Banderas Bay Mexico
• 13. Economic Valuation of Wildlife Tourism: “Contingent Valuation Method”
• 14. Relationship Between Tourists’ Expectation and Perception of Wildlife Tourism Areas: Evidance From West Bengal, India
• 15. World Around Wildlife Tourism
• Index