To feed or not to feed: A contentious issue in wildlife tourism

摘要: There is a deep need within humans to be in contact with animals and feeding has arisen as means of achieving this well fostering sense nurture even assistance wild animals. In tourism situations frequently used order enhance visitor satisfaction through delivering good sighting close improved opportunities photograph wildlife. Wildlife activities comprise one or combination being inadvertent accidental, result deliberate habitat modification attract wildlife, unstructured, namely the intentional provisioning food for wildlife without any form management structured where are deliberately fed via formal supervised arrangement. All these have potential both positive negative impacts on Recognised advantages can divided into two categories. The first relates experience product while second involves animal welfare issues. Potential realised problems associated include habituation attraction, disruption normal activities, increased aggregation at sites nutritional problems. Management strategies aim control access, numbers, nature quality provisioned educational value viewing experience. styles cater different circumstances bird operations, restaurants, fish highly managed dolphin feeding. involve specific area, controls over activity programmes. It seems that on, global scale, birds appear most suitable candidates operations. Caution must exercised developing situation purposes subject review light new information benefits otherwise situation. Feeding operations should also based upon respect appreciation natural values not entertainment.