Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

What Are the Types of Negative Wildlife Encounters Tourists
Can Have?
Negative tourist wildlife encounters can be organized into three main types: trans-
port accidents related to the presence of wildlife on or near transport corridors, the
transfer of diseases to tourists from wildlife, and encounters where tourists are
attacked or harassed by wildlife. As with many others areas of tourist safety (see
Bentley et al., 2001, for a review and discussion of unintentional injuries to
tourists, and Schiebler et al., 1996, for a discussion of crime against tourists) very
little reliable, systematic, or consistent data is available for analysis. Thus the fol-
lowing sections provide only a broad overview of the extent and nature of the
threats to tourist safety associated with negative encounters with wildlife. Further,
although there is insufficient data to be able to quantify these threats, the review
does provide evidence that these risks exist and suggests some areas for further
consideration.
Wildlife and Transport Accidents
Armour and Macdonald (1998) provide a detailed published analysis of animal-
caused fatalities in British Columbia, Canada. In this report they describe factors
associated with 133 human fatalities attributed to encounters with animals in the
state between 1969 and 1997. They found that 38% of these fatalities could be
attributed to motor vehicle accidents resulting from collisions with animals or from
swerving to avoid animals on roads. They concluded that “while there is a tendency
to focus on and sensationalize fatalities caused by wild animal attacks, . . . the
number of deaths due to bear attacks was equal to the number caused by motor
vehicles hitting moose alone” (1998, p. 26).
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, on average 130 people die
each year in the United States as a result of collisions with deer (University of
Florida and Florida Museum of Natural History (UFl/FMNH), 2003). In an analy-
sis of the causes of road traffic accidents among international travelers in Australia
the problem of collisions and avoidance of animals on roads is also noted but not
quantified (Wilks et al., 1999).
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