FEARS are growing that ecotourism and ecological research could be harming wildlife by spreading human diseases to animals.
Researchers strongly suspect that three outbreaks of tuberculosis among mongooses and meerkats in Botswana started in humans. And they say the problem will only get worse unless careful controls are put in place.
Ecotourism provides much of the money needed for wildlife conservation in Africa. Botswana’s second-largest national park, Chobe, where two of the outbreaks happened, pulls in $1.5 million dollars a year in park fees alone. But some fear that too many visitors will destroy the “unspoilt” habitat they come to…
