Wildlife Tourism

This research book is a landmark contribution to the rapidly growing field of wildlife tourism, especially in regard to its underpinning foundations of science and conservation. Written by a number of environmental and biological scientists it explains the synergy between wildlife and tourism by drawing on their global experiences.

This is a comprehensive volume on the subject of wildlife tourism, written by experts in the field and drawing on a wide range of disciplines. It covers the full scope of wildlife tourism, including zoos, wildlife watching, hunting and fishing. Also includes a up to date review of the issues of wildlife tourism.

Wildlife watching tourist activities can make an important contribution to community development and conservation, especially in developing countries, but it needs to be carefully planned and managed in order to ensure its long-term sustainability and to avoid potential adverse effects on wildlife and local communities. This report, published by UNEP and the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), considers the socio-economic and environmental benefits that can be derived from watching wildlife tourism, including case studies from Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, the United States, Australia, Indonesia and Tanzania.

This book is a landmark contribution to the rapidly growing field of wildlife tourism, especially in regard to its underpinning foundations of science, conservation and policy. Written by a number of environmental and biological scientists it explains the synergy between wildlife and tourism by drawing on their global experiences.

This book outlines the status quo of worldwide wildlife tourism and its impacts on planning, management, knowledge, awareness, behaviour and attitudes related to wildlife encounters. It sets out to fill the considerable gaps in our knowledge on wildlife tourism, applied ecology, and environmental education, providing comprehensive information on and an interdisciplinary approach to effective management in wildlife tourism. Examining the intricacies, challenges, and lessons learned in a meaningful and rewarding tourism niche, this interdisciplinary book comprehensively examines the major potentials and controversies in the wildlife tourism industry. Pursuing an insightful, provocative and hands-on approach, it primarily addresses two questions: ‘Can we reconcile the needs of the wildlife tourism industry, biodiversity conservation, ecological learning and animal ethics issues?’ and ‘What is the Future of the Wildlife Tourism Industry?’. Though primaril y intended as a research text, it also offers a valuable resource for a broad readership, which includes university and training students, researchers, scholars, tourism practitioners and professionals, planners and managers, as well as the staff of government agencies.

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.

Consumptive forms of wildlife tourism (hunting, shooting and fishing) have become a topic of interest – both to the tourism industry, in terms of destinations seeking to establish or grow this sector, and to other stakeholders such as environmental organisations, animal-rights groups, and the general public. Hunting tourism, in particular, has come under fire with accusations that it is contributing to the demise of some species. Practices such as "canned hunting" (within fenced safari parks) or the use of hounds are described as unethical, and fishing tourism too has attracted recent negative publicity as it is said to be cruel. At the same time, however, many peripheral and indigenous communities around the world are strategising how to capitalise on consumptive forms of wildlife tourism. This book addresses a range of contentious issues facing the consumptive wildlife tourism sector across a number of destinations in Europe, North America, Africa, India, Arabia and Oceania. Practices such as baited bear hunting, trophy hunting of threatened species, and hunting for conservation are debated, along with the impact of this type of tourism on indigenous communities and on wider societies. Research on all aspects of "consumptive wildlife tourism" is included, which for the purposes of the book is defined to include all tourism that involves the intended killing of wildlife for sport purposes, and may include the harvest of wildlife products. This includes, among others, recreational hunting, big-game hunting and safari operations, traditional/indigenous hunting, game-bird shooting, hunting with hounds, freshwater angling and saltwater game fishing etc. This is the first book to specifically address tourist aspects of consumption of wildlife. It will appeal to tourism and recreation academics and students, tourism industry operators, community tourism planners and wildlife managers.

Demonstrates that through scientific approaches to understanding and managing tourist interactions with marine wildlife, sustainable marine tourism can be achieved.