Ecotourism Could Be Making Animals Less Scared, And Easier To Eat

Plants and Animals





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While ecotourists enjoy the warm waters of the Cuiaba River in Brazil, our presence in natural areas like this may have unanticipated costs for local wildlife. Author provided

Wildlife populations are suffering death by a thousand cuts as a result of human activities. Wildlife are being hunted, fished, and poached. They are suffering from climate change and pollution. Diseases take their toll, as do newly invasive species. They are also being fragmented as a function of increased habitat destruction.

These are obvious culprits of environmental disruption. But there is one realm where we may be having an unanticipated impact on wildlife: nature-based tourism.