Abstract
ABSTRACT: All forms of recreation and tourism, including wildlife viewing, have the potential to alter wildlife habitat, behavior, survival, and/or reproductive success. The increasing number of visitors pursuing bear-viewing activities in coastal British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska, United States, has led to a number of studies assessing the impact of wildlife viewing on bear behavior. This study, the first to assess the impact of boat-based bear viewing in this region, used focal sampling to measure bear activity budgets in the absence and presence of nonresearch bear-viewing vessels. We found that: (1) some grizzly bears were clearly tolerant of wildlife viewing activities while others were not; (2) individual variation of bears' response to tourists was significant, introducing considerable uncertainty in attempting to assess medium- to long-term impacts of wildlife viewing; (3) males were rarely observed outside of the mating season, suggesting females (especially those with cubs) may use viewing ar...
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