Tourist wildlife feeding for pleasure at the University of Ibadan Zoological Garden, Nigeria

• Main Author: AF Akinyemi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AfricaJournals 2015-01-01
• Series: African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure
• Subjects: feeding wildlife; tourists; ex-situ conservation; recreation
• Online Access: http://www.ajhtl.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/7163688/article3vol4(2)2015.pdf

Handling tourism encompasses an understanding of the various requirements of wild species and the restrictions that tourists have to be cognisant of in their quest for a pleasurable wildlife encounter in the zoological garden. The impacts of feeding wild animals by visitors in ex-situ conservation and measures to minimize such practices are discussed from a demographical perspective in this survey. Visitors respond to different motives on why they feed wildlife such as interaction with wildlife (55%), for personal pleasure (30%) and because other people were doing it (15%). Also, visitor‟s responded on choice of animals to feed from three categories: primates, birds and ungulates, based on their features, habits and friendliness. Encouragingly, 82% of those visitors who specifically came to the Zoological garden to feed wildlife specified that they would be prepared to stop this practice if they knew it was detrimental to their health. Caution should be taken especially when visitors feed animals that pose harmful risks to people, because there are few cases of aggression and attacks on visitors who fail to be cautious and act irresponsibly.