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南太平洋海域調査研究報告
OCCASIONAL PAPERS

No.58（2017 年 3 月）
No.58（March 2017）

Assessment of the Impact of Wildlife Tourism on Animals:
A Case Study of Amami-Oshima Island
SUZUKI Mariko1, INOUE Eiji2, ITO Keiko3 and FUJITA Shio4
1: Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University
2: Faculty of Science, Toho University
3: Yuinoshima Animal Clinic, Amami
4: Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University

Abstract
Wildlife tourism is a large and global industry. It contributes to wildlife conservation, while sometimes
negatively impacting on animals. Numerous studies have reported the impact of wildlife tourism onanimals. They have used several parameters, such as physiological response, behavioral modification andpopulation dynamics, to evaluate the effects of such tourism on animals. In Amami-Oshima Island ofKagoshima Prefecture, Japan, the number of tourists has been increasing recently. One of the main wildlife
tourism activities is a night tour for watching a nocturnal animal including Amami rabbit (Pentalagus
furnessi), which is an endemic species inhabiting only Amami-Oshima and Tokunoshima islands. In orderto evaluate the effects of wildlife tourism on Amami rabbits, we investigate their physiological andbehavioral responses to the fluctuation of traffic volume on the road used for night tours. Such research willlead to the realization of stress-free tours on wildlife.
Keywords: Amami rabbit, human disturbance, stress, traffic, wildlife tourism

Wildlife Tourism for Animals
Wildlife tourism has recently become a large and global industry. In order to watch wild
animals, people visit natural areas, such as rain forests and savannas, even if they are in
distant countries. Because a tourist spends money not only on tour, but also on transport,
accommodation, food and souvenirs, it is considered that wildlife tourism brings an economic
profit to the habitat countries and/or regions. Moreover, the experience in nature gives anopportunity of environmental education to tourists. The economic and social value of wildlife
tourism let people stop a destructive development and choose the sustainable use of a nature,
which leads to the conservation of the target animals and their living environment (e.g.,

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SUZUKI Mariko, INOUE Eiji, ITO Keiko and FUJITA ShioWEAVER 1999). However, several studies have reported negative impacts of tourism onanimals (for example a review about birds: STEVEN et al. 2011).

How to Assess the Impact of Wildlife Tourism
Several ways are used to assess the impact of wildlife tourism on animals. Measuringphysiological response has been a major technique for evaluating the impact on animals in thelast decade. The plasma and/or feces glucocorticoid (GC) concentration (BUSCH andHAYWARD 2009, MILLSPAUGH and WASHBURN 2004), the heart rate (king penguins[Aptenodytes patagonicus]: VIBLANC et al. 2012) and hematological changes (southernstingrays [Dasyatis americana]: SEMENIUK et al. 2009) are used for measuring thephisiological response to the tourism. GCs have been used as an index of stress level though
the primary role of GCs is to regulate the basic energy metabolism of the cells. When
individuals encounter unexpected challenges, their GC concentrations rise beyond thethreshold, sometimes posing a threat to their survival (in details: BUSCH and HAYWARD 2009).
However, the interpretation of results can be complicated because many factors such as
season, sex and age can affect GC levels (BUSCH and HAYWARD 2009). The modifications ofanimals’ behavior after an encounter with tourists have also been surveyed as the effects ofwildlife tourism. The self-scratching, aggressive behaviors, and change of habitat area wereobserved as the behavioral responses of animals to wildlife tourism (LUSSEAU 2005,
MARÉCHAL et al. 2011, STAFFORD-BELL et al. 2012). Although mortality and reproductive
success are the most important parameters of population dynamics and useful for evaluating
the impact of tourism, it is difficult to investigate these parameters of animals with long lifespans. While measuring the physiological responses provide us the quantitative data, animals
can cope with human disturbances by changing their behavior and/or being habituated without
physiological disorder. Therefore, it is considered better to perform a comprehensive
evaluation by combining several parameters.

What of Tourism Affects Animals Negatively?
Several factors of tourism have been reported to negatively affect wildlife. Firstly, theheavy traffic can affect the behavior and physiology of animals. For example, bottlenose
dolphins (Tursiops spp.) in New Zealand seem to avoid the fjord, which is a tourist spot,
during the seasons of increasing boat traffic (LUSSEAU 2005). The hoatzin (Opisthocomushoazin) chicks living in the tourist-exposed sites in Amazonian rainforest lakes also showed
higher mortality and plasma GC levels, than those living in the undisturbed sites (MÜLLNER et47
Assessment of the Impact of Wildlife Tourism on Animals: A Case Study of Amami-Oshima Islandal. 2004). These indicate that the heavy traffic might cause noise disturbance and increase therisk of traffic accidents for the animals living there.
Even while observing the animals on foot, the tourists give some stress to the animals. In
the Red Ape Encounters in the Malaysian state of Sabah, an ecotourism program whichfacilitates trekking for wild orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio), although the visitors areprovided guidelines when observing animals, the stress hormone levels of the two habituatedorangutans significantly elevated on the day after tourist visitation (MUEHLENBEIN et al. 2012).
At Sandfly Bay in New Zealand, as the number of tourists increased dramatically, theyellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) showed higher stress hormone levels andreduced breeding success compared to those at the undisturbed breeding sites (ELLENBERG etal. 2007). In addition, close observation by tourists also might cause the disease transmission
from humans to animals (WOODFORD et al. 2002).

Wildlife Tourism in Amami-Oshima Island
Amami-Oshima Island belongs to the Nansei Islands in the south of Japan, and is locatedat the northern limit of the subtropical climate zone. Approximately 80% of its land is coveredby evergreen forests, most of which are secondary forests. The island is surrounded by thecoral reefs, and is famous as a diving and fishing spot. The Nansei Islands, including
Amami-Oshima Island, are one of the biodiversity hotspot areas in the world because they areinhabited by many endemic species such as Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi), Habu
(Protobothrops flavoviridis) and Otton frog (Babina subaspera).
Wildlife tourism in Amami-Oshima mainly involves a night-tour for watching Amami
rabbits by automobile, and a whale-watching tour by boat. During whale watching, thetourists can see the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and bottlenose dolphins(Tursiops aduncus). In the night tour, one can see not only the Amami rabbits but also othernocturnal animals including rats, frogs and snakes. The number of tourists in these wildlife
tourism areas has been increasing recently. One of the reasons for this is the registration of theAmami and Ryukyu islands as the World Natural Heritage Sites by the UNESCO, and theannual total number of tourists has been increasing constantly in Amami-Oshima Island(KAGOSHIMA PREFECTURE 2016).
An increase in the number of tourists has led to an increase in the concern about theimpact of tourism on animals. The Amami-Oshima Eco Tour Guide Association implements
rules and conducts the training of guides for all tourism sites. The night-tours are carried out
by using the forestry roads spread through the forests and old roads which were no longer
used. These roads make it easy for the tourists to access the Amami rabbits’ habitats and theysometime visit there without guides. This makes difficult to regulate all tours.

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SUZUKI Mariko, INOUE Eiji, ITO Keiko and FUJITA Shio

Monitoring Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Amami Rabbits
in Amami-Oshima
In order to assess the impacts of such activities on the Amami rabbits, we haveinvestigated their physiological and behavioral responses to the fluctuation of the traffic
volume on the road used for a night-tour. The Amami rabbit is a nocturnal and burrowing
animal, and is endemic to Amami-Oshima and Tokunoshima islands (YAMADA et al. 2000). It
often uses open areas, including roads, for feeding on grasses and excreting during the night.
We investigate the road use by Amami rabbit on the forestry road used for a night tour inAmami-Oshima Island. The fecal piles and the videos by camera trapping during a night werecounted on 1.7 km of the road from July to December 2015. In addition, in order to measure
the cortisol levels, fecal samples were collected. Each fecal sample has been individually
identified by analyzing the DNA extracted from it and then the stress level of each individualhas been investigated. Hormonal and DNA analyses are ongoing. We also obtained the data on
the traffic volume of the target road using a counter machine which was installed by theKagoshima Prefecture.
The traffic volumes during nights in August (mean: 3.5 cars per night, max: 9 cars) andSeptember (mean: 3.4 cars, max: 11 cars) were greater than those during the other months(e.g., mean: 0.8 cars, max: 3 cars on December). The number of fecal piles and videos in
August were lower than those in the other months (SUZUKI et al. 2016). These results suggest
the negative impact of tourism on the behavior of Amami rabbits. We are going to analyze therelationship between the fluctuation of traffic and their stress levels.
We use the traffic volume as a parameter of the tourism pressure to animals because it
has been often used and is the measureable even at night. However, it is difficult to observe
the situation of each tour in detail. Other parameters, such as distance between animals andtourists, speed of a vehicle and tourist behaviors may be necessary to be analyzed.
Furthermore, in order to assess the impact on the population of the Amami rabbit, we would
like to focus on the effect of tourism in long-term. Such research will lead to the realization ofstress-free tours on wildlife.

Acknowledgments
This study was supported by Special Budget of the Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, in 2015 (Establishment of Research and Education
Network on Biodiversity and Its Conservation in the Satsunan Islands) and a grants-in-aid of
the Inui Memorial Trust for Research on Animal Science, Japan. We thank Kagoshima
Prefecture for permitting to use the traffic count data.

49Assessment of the Impact of Wildlife Tourism on Animals: A Case Study of Amami-Oshima Island

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