Negative Effects Of Ecotourism On Primates
Ecotourism is a fast-growing section of tourism and serves tourists on every continent. It adds a significant contribution to the way tourists learn about the environment they are in and how they should interact with it. Ecotourism is broadly defined as tourists’ actions in an environment that benefits the destinations economy, environment, and the local people, all while educating tourists on their surroundings, or in other words, a sustainable version of nature tourism. Ecotourism has been known for protecting and raising revenue of endangered species, however if ecotourism is left unregulated it can contribute to an increase in negative effects on animals therefore as a result ecotourism is somewhat controversial especially when primates are involved. Ecotourism destinations need to have seven components to be considered a sustainable version of tourism. These components include being able to contribute to the conservation of the biodiversity life, being able to sustain the local people and having them participate in ecotourism, having a learning experience for tourists and holding them accountable for their actions, having small groups by small-scale business, and low consumption of non-renewable resources. Some ecotourism destinations who include primates have little to none of these components, which demonstrates a point many researchers have been concluding upon is that ecotourism is not a suitable conservation technique for primates unless there are an abundance of regulations in place that are heavily monitored. Some of the research shows that primates who are in these destinations may seek out human contact more often than they would in the wild, for example, rummaging through garbage or getting in proximity with human household products which can then thus lead to a transmission of pathogens to primates.
Primates may also view the tourists as their main food resource when they interact with them more often than they normally would in the wild, which can leave them with no desire or skills to obtain food on their own which could then cause primates to alter their behavior to obtain these food resources and as a result could have negative affects regarding their reproductive health. Ecotourism as a conservation technique for primates is not effective because of the chain reactions that occur when one aspect is left unregulated therefore this type of tourism has no beneficial solution for primates. Interactions that take place between humans and primates during ecotourism destinations raise the concern for an increase of pathogen transmission between the two. Since humans and non-human primates share a close phylogenetic relationship it increases the risk of interspecies disease transmission some of which can be lethal to non-human primates. For example, Kondgen et al. (2008) research confirmed that chimpanzees located in Cote d’Ivoire were contracting the human respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumovirus through human waste. This indicates that tourists are not being forewarned of how to dispose of their garbage within their destination, therefore showing that there is not enough being done to educate tourists before they embark on their journey. Likewise, when the tourists carry the transmissible viruses, they are often not aware that they possess the virus, or they may be dismissive of the symptoms they exhibit.
Although most of tourists who due embark on a journey to ecotourism destinations want to help the environment, they often underestimate the risk they pose to transmitting pathogens as well as the risk of them contracting pathogens from primates This demonstrates how tourists can often create unnecessary risks towards primates because they are largely unfamiliar of the impacts they pose directly on primates’ health or they either chose to ignore the health risks they may inflict. Many tourists often use food to try to interact with the primates and entice them to get them closer, in Youg et al. (2013) research they found that tourist in Mt. Huangshan park placed food directly in the Macaques’ hand or mouth which could cause the possibility of zoonotic disease transmission. Even though there are rules and signs in place prohibiting this feeding behavior and tourists being restricted to viewing pavilions, they choose to ignore the rules which thus leads to the possibility of transmittable diseases that pose a threat to human public safety and non-human primates health. Several recommendations that have been made by researchers to reduce the chance of pathogens being spread by humans to non-human primates by limiting the amount of time tourist can spend with the primates to less than 2 hours. Researchers have also suggested tourists to self-report their illnesses and wear disposable facemask and gloves before entering wildlife sanctuaries. They should also be subjected to mandatory hand washing/shoe disinfecting. Littering, smoking, eating, taking photos, feeding and or touching the primates, coughing/sneezing or nose blowing would also have to be prohibited in order to make ecotourism destinations containing primates a good conservation solution. With all things considered even if those polices were implemented, there is no way to guarantee that tourists are being truthful about their self-reported illnesses and or that they will limit their behavior within these destinations. However, if such rules were implemented it would widen the gap between tourist demand and future opportunities for the sanctuaries.
Within the ecotourism destinations, tourists tend to lure primates for pictures by enticing them with food. This type of interaction with the non-human primates and tourists can prompt the primates to become dependent on tourists for food and treat them as their main food resource. Webb and McCoy (2014) observed white-faced capuchins located in a wildlife refuge in Costa Rica, their research concluded that white-faced capuchins grew accustomed to eating human food and would often end up stealing food directly off tourists’ plates as they ate. This type of behavior could lead to food dependency among the primates and could cause them to stop foraging for food on their own. They may also eventually become malnourished because they aren’t receiving the proper nutrients that they need into order to remain healthy. Another example of food dependency among primates is Tibetan macaques in China, spent less time foraging for food and were less fearful of humans but were also showing hints of aggression towards them. This demonstrates primates may develop less skills for foraging food on their own and have become dependent on tourists, but this point also accompanies how primates can develop behavioral issues.
Primates who are held sanctuaries where ecotourism is prevalent have also been known to show behavioral differences versus primates who are not. A lot of the behavioral differences relates to how the primates are fed. The free ranging macaque ecotourism site at Mt. Huangshan has shown that some tourist, and even workers, have been bitten or scratched by the primate because they were feeding them in close proximity, most likely because tourists wanted to garner a photo opportunity. Although there were rules in place prohibiting this behavior, tourists still choose to partake in it. Even the Tibetan macaques in China became aggressive towards their food and showed a major increase in infant mortality because tourists still choose to ignore the polices that were implemented. The unmonitored actions of tourists can easily go unnoticed which thus proves that ecotourism must be constantly regulated in order to be effective. The primates that the ecotourism destination is trying to conserve could do more harm to the primates’ reproductive success because they are showing acts of physical aggression towards the tourists and other infants. Lastly, if the primates in the ecotourism destination become over habituated and develop no fear of the tourists, this can physically lead to more interaction between them which would allow the opportunity for a higher chance of pathogens to spread and for primates to display physical acts of aggression towards the tourists and to other primates.
It could be argued that ecotourism is an effective version of tourism because it promotes conservation awareness for primates and increases the public knowledge of the environment they are visiting, all while increasing revenue and the economic status of the location and in turn that economic growth can be given back to the primate sanctuaries to further the conservation efforts. Since ecotourism is a significant portion of international tourism it garners more attention and therefore produces more economic opportunities such as improvement of the local facilities and protecting the cultural heritage of the local residents. However, due to the unmonitored and rapid development of ecotourism projects it can lead to the deterioration of habitats and have negative effects on animals’ well-being. Primates who are in ecotourism destinations may have alterations in their stress responses, immunosuppression, increase chances of contracting infectious diseases and decrease their reproductive success. Even though ecotourism has economic benefits, it does not protect the well-being of the primates and does not accurately communicate the risks that tourists are taking when they visit these destinations. In conclusion, the risks that are involved with primates due to ecotourism do not outweigh the benefits that ecotourism could potentially bring to the destination. The human factors at play can negatively impact the primate population. in order to better understand and make ecotourism more effective there needs to be more communication between all parties concerned. It is the duty of ecotourism destination to accurately and effectively communicate how to stop the spread of pathogens and enforce the rules of not feeding to primates to prevent dependency and behavior changes. Due to these factors’ ecotourism is not the ideal choice for the conservation of primates.
