I have a confession to make. When I have been lucky enough to be near to wildlife, I often find myself thinking, “If only I could get a little bit closer”, and I’m not the only one. Unfortunately, tourism companies exploit this burning desire at the expense of animals I vividly remember scuba diving on a sea grass bed in Egypt, watching green turtles. Whilst I watched from a sensible distance, I got extremely upset as my eyes followed each turtle to the surface, where they would become engulfed in a circle of snorkellers. This must be immensely stressful. There are few doubts that irresponsible tourism has detrimental consequences for wildlife, but how can we avoid participating in this kind of destructive tourism, and ensure that we are travelling responsible? I hope to shed light on several ideas to do just this.

Know where the limits lie with touching an animal

Is it ever acceptable to touch a wild animal? Many people say never, many people say sometimes in certain circumstances, but is not always clear where the line can be drawn. Responsible tourism, without doubt, means knowing where boundaries lie for each species and each environment. I would say that rule 1 is that if an animal does not actively seek out human contact, then it is never acceptable to attempt to touch them. There is a multitude of reasons for this: it can cause immense stress to the animal, or even cause a mother to reject their offspring if they have a different scent passed on by humans.

However, the awkwardness of this point comes from animals that actively seek out human touch. In San Ignacio Lagoon, Mexico, female grey whales give birth to some extremely curious calves. This has created a magnificent opportunity for tourism as these calves seek out the small boats on the lagoon, coming up alongside to be touched. Amazingly, the mothers encourage the calves to do this by nudging them closer; and these are old whales that were alive while humans were still mercilessly hunting them. Some people say that this is the only place in the world where it is acceptable to touch wild animals, they seem to crave it. But this is also an example of responsible tourism, because previously in this lagoon, a maze of fishing lines and nets were cast, causing havoc for the whales and interrupting their breeding. However, an agreement was made. Local people now retract all nets and lines from the lagoon during the grey whale breeding season and instead their job is to take people to see the whales. This actually saves the lives of many grey whales – and the whales get the touch they crave.

This is one of very few examples where it could be okay to touch wild animals; in fact, the tourism opportunity it presents has saved the whales of this lagoon. Usually, though, it is safe to use the rule of never touch a wild animal, unless it is in dire need of saving.

Do not overcrowd tourist spots

Imagine if every little thing you do, every breath you take, was watched by a live audience - it would be extremely stressful. Unfortunately, heavy tourism is proven to have the same effect on animals, it stresses them out and they alter their behaviour as a result. Referring back to the turtles I mentioned in the introduction, you can only imagine the stress it experiences at the surface, being surrounded by humans. This constant overcrowding of tourism spots near to animals is a destructive thing; but for many species we do not know the impacts of this. With the turtles, perhaps it forces them to spend less time on the surface, making them dive down to escape the humans before they have taken their breaths. Sadly, there are some species in which we know the detrimental impacts, like in New Zealand sea lions, where heavy tourism causes pups to separate from their mothers, resulting in lower survival rates.

Overcrowding is difficult to avoid, because companies exploit animals that people desire to see, so the only way to view these species is to be a part of this crowd. Unfortunately, it is difficult to be in one of these locations and be responsible as a tourist. However, if you find yourself in this situation, perhaps you could take a step back and refrain from being part of the large crowd congregating as close as they possibly can – the further away you are, the more responsible you are being. Alternatively, the best method is to try and find tourism locations that are well run, and do not place this unnecessary stress on animals in the wild.

Do not feed wild animals

Feeding wild animals seems like a good deed, but in fact, you may be unknowingly threatening wildlife by doing so. Take ducks and geese, for example. Traditionally, people feed ducks and geese with bread in the UK, but this actually causes problems such as illnesses and dependence on humans for their food, so it is actually not a good idea. It is much better to feed them with corn, or other recommended food. Then there is the practice of chumming the water to attract sharks. This brings sharks together from miles around, all of which now associate humans with food, and is thought to contribute towards many shark attacks.

A lesser-known consequence is habituation. On first glance, this may seem like a positive, as it means that animals become less stressed in the presence of humans, but the issue is that this leads to a decreased perception of human danger in the wild. In the long-term, this means that animals are more likely to die by human causes, for example, increased habituation to boats increases the chance of dying from a boat strike. Unfortunately, habituation to human presence also facilitates poaching – if animals do not know that humans can pose danger, they will not know to flee, giving poachers an easy opportunity to take an animal. All in all, to travel responsibly, feeding wild animals is simply not a good idea, and must be avoided at all costs.

Travel with tourism companies that put money back into conservation

Referring back to San Ignacio Lagoon, this is a great example of a location in which tourism helps the conservation of a species. But others help as well, either through ways like this where the tourism itself allows animals to be conserved, or by simply putting money back into conservation through donations. However, caution is needed. Some companies use the promise of donating to charity as a way to attract more tourists to a practice that is, in fact, extremely destructive. For example, on Vancouver Island, Canada, there is a whale-watching company (who I will not name), which advertises that 1% of their revenue goes back to help the killer whales that they take people to see. Sadly, though, it is not difficult to see that this company harasses the whales, disobeying the rules set out about the distance boats must keep, causing immense stress. The meagre 1% that they donate is unlikely to make up for the extremely detrimental impact they have for the killer whales where they operate. Therefore, when travelling, it is crucial to avoid companies like this, or indeed companies that don’t give anything back to conservation whatsoever.

Offset your carbon from travelling

It is highly possible to argue that no tourism is responsible if a flight is needed to get to a destination. For example, an economy-class flight from London to New York emits an average of 0.67 tonnes of CO2 per passenger. There is no skirting around the truth here – unfortunately, if you fly, you contribute to global warming. However, it is almost impossible to get to many destinations without flying, so how can you help to avoid the impacts of your travel? Well, you can now offset your carbon emissions. This is a way to compensate for your carbon emissions by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving project elsewhere. Some companies do this themselves, the non-profit organisation CIEE, for example, runs a field centre in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Here, they offer students that visit the chance to offset their travel emissions by paying for them to plant trees in a corridor of forest through the country, aiming to help make their trip carbon neutral.

There are many, many places you can do this with. Just searching ‘Offset your carbon emissions’ on Google comes up with lots of results, so it is extremely easy to do. However, there have been websites that have been known scam people out of the money they donate to offset their carbon, so it is important to have researched which is the best project for you to fund. Quite simply, in today’s world, you cannot travel responsibly if you do not offset your carbon emissions.

Travel with companies that help local people

Throwing money directly at a problem does not always solve it, and conservation does not work if all efforts are solely aimed at the species in question. An equally important aspect is to help the local people, as they are crucial allies in the fight against extinction. These people often run a fine line, they are the ones who will protect wildlife, but if economic situations get worse, they become the ones who will exploit it. Take the issue of poaching, for example. Most poachers come from local villages near to the animals they are poaching. If, however, tourists go through responsible companies that put money into local villages, or employ locals, it will stop them from poaching. This is actually one of the most important things you can do to be responsible, and it is very easy, too. Just look for the companies that actively help their local people.

Ecotourism

Overall, if your trip covers all of these bases, then it is likely that you will be undertaking ecotourism. Ecotourism is tourism directed towards exotic, often threatened, animals and natural environments, intended to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife. It is likely to play a huge role in the conservation of a wide range of species into the future. Not travelling is actually not desirable, as tourism can help conservation – the grey whales of San Ignacio Lagoon would not be safe right now were it not for tourists coming from all over the world. However, we need help to ensure our trips are sustainable. Hopefully, more and more tourism companies will switch to ecotourism, as this is the only way that tourism can remain sustainable. If those reading this ensure that the trips they take in the future are ecotourism and responsible, using the ideas I’ve put forward, then together we will have contributed to the recovery of our planet.

How to Travel Responsibly to View Wildlife