by Jayme DeLoss
Wildlife is a primary draw for nature-based tourism, which attracts billions of annual travelers globally, but recreation in natural areas has unintended impacts on the biodiversity that entices people to those places.
Colorado State University Professor Joel Berger has spent his career researching wildlife in the field. He explores the effects of recreation on wildlife in a recently published article in The Journal of Wildlife Management.
Berger said that animals generally react to human disturbance in two different ways: they leave, expending energy and potentially abandoning good sources of food, or they become tolerant and sometimes reliant on humans for food or protection from predators.
Most outdoor recreationists don’t want to cause any harm to wildlife. In fact, a 2023 survey of roughly 19,000 National Park visitors found that viewing wildlife or natural scenery was the top reason for visiting.
“Most of the disturbance is unintentional,” said Berger, who is a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair of Wildlife Conservation at CSU. “It’s incumbent on all of us to try to soften our footprint.”
How to minimize disruptions to wildlife? Berger advises a common-sense approach that includes following rules and heeding signs: Stay on the trail; give wildlife space and don’t pursue it for photos; and keep dogs on leash so they don’t chase wildlife.
“It’s obvious that if an animal starts moving away, it’s a sign that they’re not all that happy,” he said. “The first stage might be vigilance – ears up, watching or hunkering down – and then starting to move.”
Tolerance to people and infrastructure occurs when exposure is repeated and predictable, Berger said.
“Where animals get habituated to people, they serve a good function for inspiring the public, infusing curiosity,” he added. “But even if the animals don’t look overtly stressed, they could be. They could be producing chronic stress hormones.”
The question of why some female bighorns have not adapted to people and noise remains unanswered, but from Berger’s vantage point while studying them at a distance for decades, he has watched them depart when recreationists are too close or too loud.
Connecting with nature can inspire people to protect it, and the paper highlights the challenges of enjoying the natural world while minimizing negative effects on its residents.
“We have a responsibility as a species to understand the ways that we impact wildlife and the world around us,” said co-author Kira Cassidy, a research associate with Yellowstone National Park known for her work in studying the behavior of wolves. “Only by quantifying and reporting those impacts can we then make sound, science-based decisions that will lead to greater coexistence with our wild neighbors.”
Educational outreach is a key strategy among agencies that manage land or wildlife, but it has not been effective on its own, the paper states. Solutions have included regulating activities, limiting tourist numbers and timed entry at certain sites. Seasonal closures and distance requirements are sometimes implemented to protect endangered or sensitive wildlife.
The authors have observed altered behavior in desert bighorn sheep in response to recreation on public land in southeast Utah. Outside the national parks, motorized vehicles and non-motorized activities are permitted on many of Utah’s vast public lands. Wildlife there either grows accustomed to or flees from motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, electric bikes, mountain bikes, horses and hikers.
Tourists start arriving in the area in spring, coinciding with the last stage of pregnancy for female bighorns, which are cautious by nature. Expectant mothers have greater nutritional demands during this time, and when they flee to more rugged habitats, they expend precious energy and may end up in places where there is less nutritious food.
Understanding the full impact of recreation on bighorns as well as results of repeated exposure would require more research, the authors said. In the meantime, motorized vehicle use in the area has increased, with the paper noting a 14-fold uptick from 2001 to 2021.
The question of why some female bighorns have not adapted to people and noise remains unanswered, but from Berger’s vantage point while studying them at a distance for decades, he has watched them depart when recreationists are too close or too loud.
“Most people don’t realize they’ve disturbed wildlife because they never see it,” he said.
