Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Asian primates
- 2 Tourism, infant mortality, and stress indicators among Tibetan macaques at Huangshan, China
- 3 Provisioning and tourism in free-ranging Japanese macaques
- 4 Proboscis monkey tourism
- 5 Orangutan tourism and conservation
- 6 The impact of tourism on the behavior of rehabilitated orangutans (Pongo abelii) in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra, Indonesia
- Part III African primates
- Part IV Neotropical primates
- Part V Broader issues
- Part VI Conclusion
- Index
- References
2 - Tourism, infant mortality, and stress indicators among Tibetan macaques at Huangshan, China
from Part II - Asian primates
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Part I Introduction
- Part II Asian primates
- 2 Tourism, infant mortality, and stress indicators among Tibetan macaques at Huangshan, China
- 3 Provisioning and tourism in free-ranging Japanese macaques
- 4 Proboscis monkey tourism
- 5 Orangutan tourism and conservation
- 6 The impact of tourism on the behavior of rehabilitated orangutans (Pongo abelii) in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra, Indonesia
- Part III African primates
- Part IV Neotropical primates
- Part V Broader issues
- Part VI Conclusion
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Primate tourism is a recent and growing trend in primate-habitat countries. Many primate tourism operations are outgrowths of community-based conservation initiatives (Hill, 2002) and have been promoted for their potential to achieve conservation goals as well as financial and educational benefits for local communities. One of the earliest and most successful initiatives is the Mountain Gorilla Project in the Virunga Mountains (Harcourt & Stewart, 2007). Gorilla tourism has been credited with bringing an important source of foreign currency to impoverished nations, educational opportunities for local inhabitants, and even increased reproduction in gorilla groups used for tourism (Harcourt & Stewart, 2007; and see Goldsmith, this volume). However, the extent to which many primate tourist operations are meeting these goals is not clear. As a result, conservationists, who were generally enthusiastic and encouraging about establishing primate tourism operations, are sounding more cautious, noting specific examples in which tourism has harmed wild primates, and pointing out that we know little about the impact of tourism on most of the populations it targets (Butynski, 2001). Most agree that we need to do much more research to better understand the ways in which primate tourism affects primate health, behavior, and reproduction. Only then will we be able to make sound recommendations that maximize conservation goals and minimize harm. This chapter reviews some approaches to assessing the effects of tourism on primate populations, presents findings on some of the negative impacts of tourism on a population of Tibetan macaques, and offers several recommendations to reduce these negative impacts both in China and elsewhere.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Primate TourismA Tool for Conservation?, pp. 21 - 43Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
References
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