Image credit: Bruce Crossey
New research from the Mammal Research Institute is challenging assumptions about whether safari tourism stresses out wildlife, and the story has struck a chord well beyond academic circles.
Written by Dr Bruce Crossey for The Conversation Africa, the piece draws on over 500 dung samples collected at Somabula Nature Reserve to measure stress-related hormone levels in impala, zebra, blue wildebeest and giraffe against daily tourist numbers. Of the four species monitored, only impala showed a significant stress response to tourist activity, and this was only during the resource-scarce dry season.
Since publication, the story has been picked up across radio, television, and online media:
Listen to Bruce's radio interviews here:
See the television feature here:
Read the print & online coverage here:
This research was funded by the Oppenheimer Chair for Emerging African Scientists in Non-invasive Wildlife Research.