Bringing Science to Wildlife Tourism: The Inuence of Managers ’ and Scientists’ Perceptions

Wildlife tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors worldwide. Little is known, however, about its impacts on the wildlife on which it depends. This paper explores, as a rst step in addressing this shortcoming, the perceptions held by tour operators, managers and wildlife scientists regarding the role and purpose of scien-tic research in sustainable wildlife tourism. The study drew on four case studies fromWestern Australia – two managed attractions and their managers and two wild-life tours and their operators – plus interviews with wildlife scientists. Key ndings included a focus by scientists on the conservation biology of threatened species and the ‘scientic method’. The inuences of the ‘scientic community ’ and ‘being a scientist ’ on scientists were also apparent. Managers and operators, on the other hand, focused on the urgency of scientic knowledge for addressing potential impacts. A major challenge to progressing the scientic attention given to the impacts of tourists on wildlife is closing the perceptual gap between scientists and managers regarding the role and purpose of scientic research in this rapidly grow-ing, dynamic and yet potentially sustainable industry