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Visitors’ On-site Wildlife Viewing Experience and Becoming Africa in Asia: Empirical Evidence from Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has recognized wildlife tourism as an industry that may be utilized to deviate from conventional tourism offerings. The country possesses all the necessary attributes to emerge as Asia’s next prominent wildlife destination, owing to its abundant natural resources. The key to achieving success in this endeavor is to offer a distinctive and quality wildlife experience for foreign visitors in the country’s national parks. The flagship of this expedition, according to numerous wildlife and tourism specialists, is Yala National Park.. Nevertheless, it is apparent that Yala National Park, the most frequented and highly regarded national park in Sri Lanka, is grappling with several significant challenges that adversely impact its global standing. It’s still unknown if these problems affect how visitors view the wildlife in national parks. Thus, this study explores the main obstacles Yala National Park in Sri Lanka has faced from stakeholders’ perspectives, how they affect park visitors’ on-site wildlife viewing experiences, and the nation’s efforts to become the world’s top wildlife tourism destination. This study is conducted as a qualitative study and employs a single-case design. Data was gathered through in-depth interviews with 18 participants from nine stakeholder categories. These participants were in Tissamaharama, the nearest town to Yala National Park. Participants identified eight distinct categories of significant issues faced by Yala National Park. The study findings disclosed that these crucial concerns have had a detrimental impact on the overall quality of on-site wildlife viewing for foreign tourists, undermining the country’s aspirations to be recognized as a premier global wildlife destination. The government and stakeholders of Yala National Park must comprehend this predicament swiftly. Resolving these vital concerns promptly is of utmost importance to enhance the on-site wildlife viewing experience for foreign visitors in Yala and position Sri Lanka as the Africa of Asia.

The Impact of Message Framing on Wildlife Approach During Ungulate Viewing Experiences in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Every year, millions of people visit parks and protected areas to view wildlife. Conflict between people and ungulates is prominent, and many incidents occur when people approach ungulates at proximities less than the National Park Service regulation of 25 yards. The purpose of this study was to test how wildlife viewing communication messages impact park visitors’ approach behavior. A survey and walking exercise were conducted with life-sized ungulate cutouts on a 100-yard transect in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks to test the influence of three message frames (i.e., current NPS messaging, resource protection messaging, and a visitor experience message) on visitors’ approach behaviors. Park visitors overestimated proximity when given current park messaging. Additionally, the resource protection- and the visitor experience-framed messages led to more conservative wildlife approach compared to current park messaging. These results have practical applications for influencing visitors’ behaviors and reducing human-wildlife conflict through education and interpretation.

Protected Areas and Rural Livelihood: An overview of the Mediating role of Wildlife Tourism

The present study contributes to the body of knowledge in protected areas conservation by exploring the role of nature based tourism in strengthening the relationship between protected areas and rural community. The paper draws largely from Sustainable Livelihood Framework. The study was carried out by analyzing peer-reviewed literature from published sources such as books, journal articles, conference proceedings and published documents from major international and national organisations. The analysis shows that majority of the scholars agree that benefits arising from protected areas tend to accrue largely to the international community, national governments and the private sector in the form of revenues from nature based tourism, while a large amount of conservation costs are borne by local communities living adjacent to protected areas. Without receiving significant benefits from tourism, local communities will continue to view wildlife as a threat to their livelihoods and develop resentments against conservation of protected areas

Encouraging Respectful Wildlife Viewing Among Tourists: Roles for Social Marketing, Regulatory Information, Symbolic Barriers, and Enforcement

Background The practice of viewing animals in captivity is losing popularity among tourists, who would rather observe wildlife in their natural environments. A laudable sustainability goal is to provide enjoyable viewing possibilities while also protecting wildlife. Focus of the Article This study tested a social marketing campaign that promoted replacement behaviors against standard regulatory signage in persuading individuals to follow the viewing distance guideline for Hawaiian green sea turtles. The characteristics of one of the study sites also offered the opportunity to study the impacts of symbolic barriers (e.g., rock walls, orange safety cones) and enforcement from authority-like figures on people’s compliance. Research Questions The study addresses three research questions: (1) Can a social marketing-based approach encourage respectful wildlife viewing? (2) How does the approach compare to one providing simplistic information about the behavior and associated laws? (3) How do symbolic barriers and enforcement by authority-like figures add impact to influencing respectful wildlife viewing? Program Design/Approach The “Amazing from Afar” campaign was designed with insights from federal wildlife managers, existing literature on tourists’ psychology and goals, and key informant interviews with local residents. The campaign promoted replacement behaviors of taking forced perspective photos of sea turtles and was evaluated alongside other techniques to encourage respectful viewing. Importance to the Social Marketing Field This article demonstrates the effectiveness of social marketing for nature-based recreation, an under-served area where interest in approaches focused on behavior change is emerging. The study documents improved compliance with wildlife viewing distances using a social marketing approach compared to the more standard approach of stating rules/laws and putting up symbolic barriers. Plus, it illustrates how symbolic barriers and enforcement can enhance impact. Methods Research took place over two studies, one on Oahu ( n = 1,437) and one on the Island of Hawai‘i ( n = 10,217) using a quasi-experimental design where the control conditions reflected existing efforts at the site. Using naturalistic observation, we categorized and counted people at various distances from basking sea turtles before and during the social marketing campaign. Results Findings showed regulatory information signs located near the sea turtles positively impacted people’s compliance with the viewing distance guideline, and the social marketing campaign improved compliance even further. The symbolic barrier could help or hurt compliance depending on how close sea turtles got to its edges, but compliance was over 90% with the social marketing campaign in place. Recommendations Natural resource managers and conservationists should carefully consider how regulations/enforcement, environmental design, and marketing can work together to achieve wildlife protection while preserving fulfilling viewing opportunities. Limitations The field research relying on observations of people’s behavior did not allow for assurances of exposure to signage, and in some cases, the symbolic barriers could have been overlooked as well. Instead, there could have been descriptive norm cues from others since it was common for multiple parties to be viewing at once.

Developing an Evidence-Based Coexistence Strategy to Promote Human and Wildlife Health in a Biodiverse Agroforest Landscape

Agroforest mosaics represent one of the most extensive human-impacted terrestrial systems worldwide and play an increasingly critical role in wildlife conservation. In such dynamic shared landscapes, coexistence can be compromised if people view wildlife as a source of infectious disease. A cross-disciplinary One Health knowledge base can help to identify evolving proponents and threats to sustainable coexistence and establish long-term project goals. Building on an existing knowledge base of human–wildlife interactions at Cantanhez National Park (NP), Guinea-Bissau, we developed a causal pathway Theory-of-Change approach in response to a newly identified disease threat of leprosy in the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus). The goals of our project are to improve knowledge and surveillance of leprosy in humans and wildlife and increase capacity to manage human–wildlife interactions. We describe the core project activities that aim to (1) quantify space use by chimpanzees across Cantanhez NP and determine the distribution of leprosy in chimpanzees; (2) understand the health system and local perceptions of disease; and (3) identify fine-scale risk sites through participatory mapping of resources shared by humans and chimpanzees across target villages. We discuss the development of a biodiversity and health monitoring programme, an evidence-based One Health campaign, and a One Health environmental management plan that incorporates the sharing of space and resources, and the disease implications of human–non-human great ape interactions. We demonstrate the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, and the development of strategy that fully considers interactions between people, wildlife, and the environment.

Beneath the Waves: Experiences of Beginner SCUBA Divers and Sensorium

Background: The experience of Recreational SCUBA Diving (RSD) is unique and exciting because participants can feel innermost and special sensations. Aim: By exploring the role of the senses in RSD This paper seeks to illustrate the complex, kaleidoscopic and inter-relational connections beginner SCUBA divers make with aquatic environment within the sensorium experience for the first time. Methods: The present research draws upon the qualitative inquiry away from the positivist approaches to capture insider views, meanings, and interpretations. Audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 12 undergraduate students who had experienced a first-time SCUBA diving through Discover SCUBA Diving (DSD) Program were transcribed and thematically analyzed. A thematic analysis was performed with the Nvivo 11 Plus software package program. Results: Analysis illustrated that both positive and negative emotions are experienced due to (a) Diver Dimension of Marine Wildlife Touching, (b) Diver Dimension of Marine Wildlife Viewing, and (c) Diver Dimension of Marine Wildlife Hearing. Conclusion: The opportunity to experience aquatic environment for the first time during active leisure reflects participants’ ability, which offers encouragement, enthusiasm, well-being, and satisfaction. In unravelling the negative diving experience, as experienced by divers, we argue some physical and psychological distress and difficulty arise due to chemical and physical properties of aquatic environment, however. Keywords: Active Leisure, Aquatic, Sensorium, SCUBA Diving, Well-being.

Encouraging Safe Wildlife Viewing in National Parks: Effects of a Communication Campaign on Visitors’ Behavior

ABSTRACTSeeing wildlife in natural habitat is an exciting and powerful experience for national park visitors but is risky for visitors and wildlife alike. National parks have long used educational approaches to inspire visitors to engage in conservation behavior and protect themselves from harm. With record visitation in recent years, national parks must hone their communication strategies that support wildlife conservation and reduce wildlife-caused injuries to visitors. We tested a campaign that strongly promoted the visitor’s experience as it aligns with wildlife protection. We measured its effect on how close people approached wildlife in four US national parks. The campaign resulted in fewer visitors observed within unsafe distances to wildlife in three of the four parks. We recommend parks use messages emphasizing the visitor experience gained by engaging in the desired behavior rather than messages that only highlight the importance of wildlife protection.

Landowners’ wildlife value orientations, attitudes and behaviour in relation to game management practices

Landowners are shaping the landscape, sometimes through wildlife management for hunting purposes; however, no studies have looked at the connection between how landowners view wildlife (their wildlife value orientations—WVO) and, respectively, their attitudes to and stated game management practices potentially affecting the landscape. This study, using a nationally representative data set of landowners in Denmark, makes this connection. Using a utilitarian-pluralist-mutualist-distanced orientation scale, most Danish landowners (especially full-time farmers) were utilitarian followed by pluralist. Utilitarian and pluralist were generally more accepting of game management practices than mutualists and distanced landowners. Landscape- or nature-orientated game management practices were accepted by a clear majority of landowners regardless of WVOs (though utilitarian and pluralists were more positive). More narrow game-orientated management practices were significantly more acceptable for those with a utilitarian and mutualist orientation. In a management context, results are relevant when predicting changes in the rural landscape and the relation to developments in the composition of landowners, and in their WVO. Moreover, in relation to potential conflicts, the general public in Denmark has a higher proportion of mutualists and distanced than among landowners, and are likely to be less accepting of the narrow, game-orientated practices.

Role of Wildlife-viewing Activity at Tabin Wildlife Reserve

The Tabin Wildlife Reserve is the only gazetted wildlife reserve in Sabah. For it to remain sustainable, tourism is strategically taken as a socio-economy instrument with wildlife-viewing currently being the most important tourism activity. But tourism could also be used as a conservation instrument, and a scientific research was carried out to determine the role of wildlife-viewing in conservation at the Reserve. This research comprises a social media content analysis, on-site observations and interviews with the Reserve's tourists, and findings show that the Reserve has the basic facilities for tourists to view wildlife. Besides this, the findings also show that the Reserve’s tourists were satisfied with their wildlife-viewing experiences. However, the findings also reveal that the tourists’ viewing experiences and satisfactions did not influence their understanding of conservation. Instead, the experiences and satisfactions prompted them to revisit and promote the destination to other people. These findings suggest the wildlife-viewing as an activity enforces conservation interest rather than increases conservation interest, which brings the understanding that tourism is a selective conservation instrument.

A method to value nature-related webcam viewing: the value of virtual use with application to brown bear webcam viewing

ABSTRACTThere are an estimated 16,000 nature related remote web cameras that provide users around the world with an opportunity to view wildlife. Because there is no monetary price to view the webcams, we utilise variations in the viewers’ opportunity cost of time to estimate consumer surplus. We apply this model to a large sample (n = 2649) of the more than 10 million viewers of Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve brown bear webcams. The resulting consumer surplus is around $11 per hour of viewing. When applied to the 2.42 million viewer hours, this yields a benefit of $27 million annually. Since there are limits on the number of visitors as well as high costs of visiting this remote site, the aggregate webcam viewing value is more than twice the aggregate on-site viewing value. With minimal survey data required to apply this model, we believe it has broad applicability to other nature-related webcams around the world.

Biophysical disturbances of elephant safaris in the Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal

The paper explores peoples' perceptions on the biophysical impacts of elephant safaris which is a perfect way to go wildlife viewing, and is very eco-friendly. It surpasses its alternatives, especially noisy Jeep safaris. However, more people are becoming aware of the biophysical impacts of the safaris in the park. They perceived that the safaris cause negative impacts on wildlife and can destroy habitat through soil compaction and erosion, vegetation damage and disturbances. The study also estimated that the current wildlife observation distance from elephant safaris are less than fifteen metres which is too close and may be harmful to wildlife. This study provides interesting comparisons with previous studies on impacts of tourist activities on wildlife from a biological perspective in that the appropriate distances perceived by park staff to view wildlife was the only one to “fit" their findings. The distances perceived by other groups of people as appropriate would in fact, cause unacceptable levels of disturbance. It is concluded that social (human) perception of disturbance by elephant safaris may not accurately reflect the biological severity of their impacts.

Understanding and managing wildlife jams in national parks: An evaluation in Grand Teton National Park

As recreation and tourism in parks and protected areas continues to increase, managers face rising concerns of degradation of natural resources and the visitor experience. Many park visitors are seeking opportunities to view or photograph wildlife. Visitor behavior in prime wildlife-viewing areas often involves visitors parking along roadways and exiting their cars to view wildlife. This creates a phenomenon known as a “wildlife jam”, as visitors park informally along a roadway, often becoming pedestrians as they view wildlife, while other motorists attempt to drive through. To date, no studies have comprehensively investigated this phenomenon. Our study characterizes the nature of wildlife jams on the Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton National Park. Global Positioning System (GPS) technology was used to collect high-accuracy data on location and duration of the jams. Observations during jams characterize size (how many visitors and cars were involved) and visitor behaviors during jams. Preliminary results suggest that jam characteristics including presence of park staff, species involved, and location, can affect the duration, extent, and visitor behaviors that occur. Understanding the nature of these jams will enable park managers to minimize the potential negative effects of jams on wildlife and the visitor experience.
 
 Featured photo by letdown102 on Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/57jUok

POTENTIALITY ASSESSMENT FOR ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN DIDA HARA CONSERVATION SITE OF BORENA NATIONAL PARK, ETHIOPIA

The main objective of this research is identifying the ecotourism resources and products for ecotourism development in the Dida Hara conservation site of BoranaNational Park, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. The study used a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. The data were collected by using a questionnaire, interview, field observation and secondary document analysis. The questionnaire was distributed to the visitors in order to determine the market demand by using convenience sampling technique. Interview was conducted with office personnel’s, tour operators and selected local community representatives and selected by using non- probability sampling technique. The study revealed that Dida Hara conservation site of Borana National Park has potential ecotourism resources especially in terms of wildlife (more than 40 mammal species), birds (more than 280 bird species) and cultural resources (especially Borana community Gada system and Buna Qalla ceremony). The Park area is the centre of endemic birds like; Ethiopian Bush Crow, White-Tailed Swallow, Prince Ruspoil’s Turaco. The presence of such untapped ecotourism resources has also a potential for community participation including natural resources conservation and awareness for negative and positive impacts of ecotourism. The local communities are also positive towards ecotourism development in the destination. Based on the visitor's survey result more than 90 % are interested to view wildlife and birds and 86.5 % of the visitors are willing to recommend for others to visit the site. Besides these, the visitor's survey revealed that around 97.8 % of the respondents are considering themselves as ecotourist and willing to spend more money to eco-tourism destination (84.3) as compared to regular tourism destination. Furthermore, the study confirmed that the identification of ecotourism resources play a significant role in the development of ecotourism and for marketing the destination for the future. In this destination, no research has conducted in related with the potential resources for ecotourism development by using such multi-directional data collection tools including market demand analysis.

Impacts of Boat-Based Wildlife Viewing in the K'tzim-a-Deen Inlet on Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos) Behavior

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...

Wildlife Viewing Preferences of Visitors to Sri Lanka’s National Parks: Implications for Visitor Management and Sustainable Tourism Planning

Wildlife Viewing Preferences of Visitors to Sri Lanka’s National Parks: Implications for Visitor Management and Sustainable Tourism Planning

Wildlife Viewing Spectacles: Best Practices from Elephant Seal (Mirounga sp.) Colonies

Wildlife Viewing Spectacles: Best Practices from Elephant Seal (Mirounga sp.) Colonies

Being beside the seaside: Beach use and preferences among coastal residents of south-eastern Australia

Beaches are the most popular recreational destinations in Australia yet how they are visited and valued by Australians is poorly known. We surveyed 385 people (13.8% of 2800 coastal residents) from south-eastern Australia to examine their use of beaches and the features that are important in their choice and enjoyment of a beach destination. Most respondents (90.3%) nominated beaches as one of their top three most valued natural recreational environments. Thirty-four recreational activities occurred at the beach (8.6 ± 0.3 [mean ± SE] activities per respondent), mostly walking (91.4%) and swimming (78.9%). Factor analyses revealed respondents valued clean, uncrowded beaches with opportunities to view wildlife ( n = 338) but also desired facilities (e.g. toilets, shade, life savers, food outlets; n = 331). Difficult access and intrusive recreation activities (e.g. vehicles on beaches) detracted from people′s enjoyment. We describe a distinct dichotomy in use of ‘local’ versus ‘non-local’ beaches, where local beaches are visited more frequently, throughout more of the year, outside working hours and by smaller groups of people, compared with ‘non-local’ beaches. Coastal planners and managers not only face the challenge of increasing visitation to beaches but also the need to manage for somewhat conflicting values among beach-goers.

Wildlife value orientations and demographics in The Netherlands

This article identified the Dutch publics’ value orientations toward wildlife and examined differences in value orientations among four demographic characteristics: age, sex, current residence, and education. The two wildlife value orientations—domination and mutualism—were based on prior theorizing and research in the USA. People with a domination value orientation believe wildlife should be managed for human benefit and are more likely to prioritize human well-being over wildlife in their attitudes and behaviors. Individuals with a mutualism orientation view wildlife as part of an extended family, deserving of rights and care. Data were obtained from a mailed survey (n = 353) sent to randomly selected individuals in the Dutch population. K-means cluster analysis was used to segment respondents into three groups based on their responses to the 19 items used to measure their wildlife value orientations. As predicted by the literature, those with a domination wildlife value orientation were statistically older (M = 55.2) than mutualism oriented individuals (M = 51.5). Females (61%) and those living in an urban area (48%) tended to be more mutualism-oriented. There were no significant differences among the clusters in education level. Overall, this article provides information about wildlife value orientations and public demographic characteristics that can help wildlife managers to (1) understand the diversity of value orientations that exist and (2) gauge support for or opposition to management policies.

Effects of the Presence of Official-Looking Volunteers on Harassment of New Zealand Fur Seals

An increased number of tourists viewing animals in the wild have increased stress on these animals (hereafter wildlife). Many wildlife-viewing locations rely on voluntary compliance with posted regulations to protect animals from tourists because of the expense of employing on-site enforcement personnel. Voluntary compliance, however, is ineffective. The presence of official-looking volunteers may decrease the incidence of wildlife harassment by tourists. To test this possibility, we observed tourists interacting with 5- to 12-month-old New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) at the popular Ohau Stream waterfall while in the absence or presence of a young woman in plain sight wearing a neon vest (i.e., observer) and when an observer was not present. We observed 254 tourist groups at the waterfall when young seals were present. The percentage of groups in which at least one person harassed (approached, touched, or threw objects) a young seal was two-thirds lower when the official-looking observer was present. Frequency of harassment was inversely related to observer presence. Programs in which volunteers work at tourist sites are popular in countries with high tourism rates, such as New Zealand. Our results show that a relatively inexpensive and effective tourism-management strategy may be to post such volunteers as observers at sites where tourists view wildlife.

Normative Standards for Wildlife Viewing in Parks and Protected Areas

With increasing public interest in wildlife watching, there is a need to develop methods to better inform management of quality viewing opportunities. In this study, normative methods using indicators and standards of quality are applied at two diverse parks/protected areas: a popular national park in Alaska and a lesser known wildlife refuge in New Hampshire. Three potential indicators of quality are identified that can be used to help define and manage wildlife viewing opportunities, and a range of potential standards of quality are developed for these indicator variables. In general, normative standards of visitors to the two study areas were salient and moderately to highly crystallized. Furthermore, study findings indicate that visitors are currently experiencing high-quality wildlife viewing at both sites. Wildlife viewing indicators and standards developed at these diverse study locations may be applicable at a wide range of parks and protected areas.