ECOTOURISM deserves to succeed. Wealthy visitors get to see rare or spectacular wildlife, while the money they spend goes to local – often poor – people who, in turn, protect animals and their habitats. So it is a shock to discover that ecotourism is damaging the wildlife on which it depends (see “Beware the ecotourist”).
Some effects are subtle and their significance is not clear. A little more stress or bursts of unnatural behaviour may not harm individual animals or the well-being of their species. But we can’t be sure. With ecotourism rocketing, even tiny effects could have huge impacts. What…
