Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
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Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
This article raises some questions on the dangers of humans contaminating animals with Covid-19. It's been reported that some domestic animals, dogs and cats, have contracted Covid-19 from humans, so what about wild animals, particularly apes ? As nature tours are set to resume sometime soon, do gibbons need protecting from tourists ? This researcher thinks so.
But then what about zoos and safari parks ?
No ape jape: gibbons need protection from COVID-19 too
22 September 2020
We know Nature Based Tourism programs are set to boom so we want them to prioritise the welfare of the animals
Experts studying how tourism affects wild gibbons say visitors should wear PPE masks and have health checks before visiting them.
While tourism to wild gibbon populations halted with the first COVID-19 lockdowns, tour operators in Cambodia and China are gearing up to resume visits.
The recommendations build on world-first research on wild gibbon populations in Cambodia and China, which shows the apes significantly alter their behaviour, to their own detriment when tourists are present.
Instead of resting and socialising, gibbons spent more time on the look-out for danger and displayed stress and anxiety behaviours when tourist groups followed them.
ANU researcher Jessica Williams said her studies showed gibbons were trading off their rest time to monitor an unfamiliar situation.
"Scanning the landscape is one way animals monitor their environment and detect danger. When tourists are present, we observed the gibbons spent more time scanning compared to when tourists were absent," Ms Williams said.
"This increase in scanning was coupled with a decrease in time spent resting and rest is essential to maintaining normal brain function and immune responses.
"If the gibbons' immune system is affected it can have negative side-effects. It can lead to shortening their life or making them more susceptible to catching diseases - and because we're all primates, they may be able to catch something from us."
Ms Williams said COVID-19 might be one of the diseases gibbons could be susceptible to.
"Due to a lack of research, we don't know for sure if the small apes; gibbons and siamangs can catch diseases like COVID-19 from humans. But disease transmission from and to humans is well-documented in the great apes like gorillas and chimpanzees," she said.
"Because gibbons being used for tourism could suffer reduced immunity in the face of large and frequently changing groups of people entering their environment, we can't take any chances.
"Once a disease has been transmitted it spreads through the entire population."
As well as temperature checks and wearing protective gear, Ms Williams' guidelines recommend limiting visits to once a day, with total group numbers of eight and only when the gibbons are naturally active.
"Our research showed how tourism was affecting the gibbons before COVID-19 hit. Before it starts up again, we want tour operators to pause and re-set expectations for tourism and visitors by re-designing their programs based on this new research," Ms Williams said.
"We're not against 'Nature Based Tourism'. In fact, we know it can create jobs and revenue and has the potential to combat destructive practices like logging or poaching.
"We also know these programs were set to boom in Asia and so before things resume and expand, we want to make sure Nature Based Tourism programs are better designed to prioritise the welfare of the animals."
Jessica Williams' research was conducted on northern yellow-cheeked crested gibbons (Nomascus annamensis) at Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park in Cambodia and Skywalker gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) at Mt Gaoligong National Nature Reserve, China and is published in Animal Biology: https://brill.com/view/journals/ab/aop/ ... a10040.xml
Her guidelines to protect wild gibbons from tourism will be published in the forthcoming edition of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/no ... vid-19-too
But then what about zoos and safari parks ?
No ape jape: gibbons need protection from COVID-19 too
22 September 2020
We know Nature Based Tourism programs are set to boom so we want them to prioritise the welfare of the animals
Experts studying how tourism affects wild gibbons say visitors should wear PPE masks and have health checks before visiting them.
While tourism to wild gibbon populations halted with the first COVID-19 lockdowns, tour operators in Cambodia and China are gearing up to resume visits.
The recommendations build on world-first research on wild gibbon populations in Cambodia and China, which shows the apes significantly alter their behaviour, to their own detriment when tourists are present.
Instead of resting and socialising, gibbons spent more time on the look-out for danger and displayed stress and anxiety behaviours when tourist groups followed them.
ANU researcher Jessica Williams said her studies showed gibbons were trading off their rest time to monitor an unfamiliar situation.
"Scanning the landscape is one way animals monitor their environment and detect danger. When tourists are present, we observed the gibbons spent more time scanning compared to when tourists were absent," Ms Williams said.
"This increase in scanning was coupled with a decrease in time spent resting and rest is essential to maintaining normal brain function and immune responses.
"If the gibbons' immune system is affected it can have negative side-effects. It can lead to shortening their life or making them more susceptible to catching diseases - and because we're all primates, they may be able to catch something from us."
Ms Williams said COVID-19 might be one of the diseases gibbons could be susceptible to.
"Due to a lack of research, we don't know for sure if the small apes; gibbons and siamangs can catch diseases like COVID-19 from humans. But disease transmission from and to humans is well-documented in the great apes like gorillas and chimpanzees," she said.
"Because gibbons being used for tourism could suffer reduced immunity in the face of large and frequently changing groups of people entering their environment, we can't take any chances.
"Once a disease has been transmitted it spreads through the entire population."
As well as temperature checks and wearing protective gear, Ms Williams' guidelines recommend limiting visits to once a day, with total group numbers of eight and only when the gibbons are naturally active.
"Our research showed how tourism was affecting the gibbons before COVID-19 hit. Before it starts up again, we want tour operators to pause and re-set expectations for tourism and visitors by re-designing their programs based on this new research," Ms Williams said.
"We're not against 'Nature Based Tourism'. In fact, we know it can create jobs and revenue and has the potential to combat destructive practices like logging or poaching.
"We also know these programs were set to boom in Asia and so before things resume and expand, we want to make sure Nature Based Tourism programs are better designed to prioritise the welfare of the animals."
Jessica Williams' research was conducted on northern yellow-cheeked crested gibbons (Nomascus annamensis) at Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park in Cambodia and Skywalker gibbons (Hoolock tianxing) at Mt Gaoligong National Nature Reserve, China and is published in Animal Biology: https://brill.com/view/journals/ab/aop/ ... a10040.xml
Her guidelines to protect wild gibbons from tourism will be published in the forthcoming edition of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/no ... vid-19-too
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- SternAAlbifrons
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Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
No half measures - speedy effective action needs to be taken.
If the gibbons immediately lockout the tourists, close their forest's borders and shoot for near-elimination
they'll soon be grinning like kiwis and kangaroos.
Unfortunately, it seems to be the only way - Homo sapiens have demonstrated without doubt that no Great Ape civilisation on earth can control it once it has established a foothold.
Seriously, if it is established there is a similar risk to wild or zooified animals as there is to humans, we don't have a flocking right to go anywhere near them.
do we? especially just to turn a buck.
(NB, This may not apply to Cambodian primates of course.
cos all Khmers are a species from another planet and the normal rules of the universe have always been suspended at the borders there - the virus has proved that again)
If the gibbons immediately lockout the tourists, close their forest's borders and shoot for near-elimination
they'll soon be grinning like kiwis and kangaroos.
Unfortunately, it seems to be the only way - Homo sapiens have demonstrated without doubt that no Great Ape civilisation on earth can control it once it has established a foothold.
Seriously, if it is established there is a similar risk to wild or zooified animals as there is to humans, we don't have a flocking right to go anywhere near them.
do we? especially just to turn a buck.
(NB, This may not apply to Cambodian primates of course.
cos all Khmers are a species from another planet and the normal rules of the universe have always been suspended at the borders there - the virus has proved that again)
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Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
Tourists should also wear a mask when visiting remote hill tribes.
Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
Tourists should wear a mask whenever they leave their hotel room. Wild animals should wear a mask whenever they receive human visitors.
Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
Oh please - do you have to publish yet another article promoting fear and panic about COVID19 by some so-called "expert" ? I would hope to see CEO promoting an end to this insanity rather than perpetuating it.
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Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
It's all about maximizing revenue, logic had never come into it.
- SternAAlbifrons
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Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
I dunno, but maybe a bit of interspecies-transmission research is probably not toooo much of a bad idea right now.
just sayin'
..maybe??
just sayin'
..maybe??
Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:05 am This article raises some questions on the dangers of humans contaminating animals with Covid-19. It's been reported that some domestic animals, dogs and cats, have contracted Covid-19 from humans, so what about wild animals, particularly apes ? As nature tours are set to resume sometime soon, do gibbons need protecting from tourists ? This researcher thinks so.
But then what about zoos and safari parks ?
Err, excuse me, but didn't they give it to us in the first place?This article raises some questions on the dangers of humans contaminating animals with Covid-19
- Clutch Cargo
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Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
Well, many humans refuse to wear masks to protect themselves or their fellow humans.....so, what d'ya reckon are the odds for safeguarding animals?
Re: Should Tourists Wear a Mask When Visiting Animals in the Wild ?
Is there a requirement to present the main stream media point of view to receive advertising dollars on CEO, or do people really believe this?
## I thought I knew all the answers, but they changed all the questions. ##
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