Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Table 4
Wildlife Described as Dangerous, Wildlife Tourists Would Like to See, and
Wildlife Tourists Would Not Like to See
Wildlife 
Wildlife Visitors
Wildlife
Wildlife Visitors
Described as 
do not Want
Visitors Want
Want to See in a
Dangerous
to See
to See in Nature
Controlled Setting
Marine jellyfish
Snakes
Kangaroos
Crocodiles
Snakes
Spiders
Koalas
Sharks
Crocodiles
Marine jellyfish
Crocodiles
Snakes
Spiders
Crocodiles
Tropical fish
Spiders
Sharks
Sharks
Birds
Marine jellyfish
Stonefish
Insects
Other marsupials
Dingoes
Dingoes
Mosquitoes
Cassowaries
Cassowaries
Cassowaries
Dingoes
Whales
Marine life and corals
Insects
Stonefish
Dolphins
Kangaroos
Sea snakes
Reptiles
Sharks
Koalas
Cone shells
Kangaroos
Snakes
Whales
Venomous sea creatures
Sea snakes
Marine life and corals Birds
Blue ring octopuses
Rodents
Turtles
Tropical fish
Marsupials
Cassowaries
Dingoes
Other marsupials
Birds
Spiders
Note:
The responses are listed in order of frequency of reporting by the sample.
H7898_Ch12.qxd 8/24/05 8:47 AM Page 219

---

combined again because of few differences in visitors responses), venomous
snakes, sharks, cassowaries, and poisonous spiders, as compared to a number of
other safety issues. These risk ladders were adapted from those used by Riley and
Decker (2000) and the responses are summarized into a single risk ladder pre-
sented in Figure 2.
The median risk rankings given by the tourist sample were all greater than rid-
ing a horse for pleasure and the median risk associated with marine stingers was
greater than the risks involved in driving a motor vehicle or tractor. In all cases the
perceived risks associated with the wildlife encounters were higher than the actual
risks. Only one death has been confirmed from a cassowary attack in the last 80
years (Kuranda Envirocare, 2003), with no deaths and only one attack recorded for
sharks in the North Queensland region in the year 2002 (AAP, 2003), and no
deaths recorded for poisonous spiders (Sutherland and Trinca, 1978). According to
Bush (2003), the death rate from snakebites in Australia as a whole is less than 0.5
deaths per million people each year. There have been 12 documented crocodile
attacks in the region since 1985 with four fatalities (M. Read, Coordinator,
Crocodile Management Unit, Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service,
Personal Communication, November, 2003), and there were two confirmed fatali-
ties from marine stingers in the region in the year 2002 (Bailey et al., 2003).
The fourth section of the questionnaire asked tourists to list what, if any, tourist
activities would they change or not participate in because of threatening wildlife.
More than two thirds of the sample (69%) listed some activity that they believed
was influenced by their perceptions of risk associated with wildlife in the region.
The most commonly mentioned activity was swimming with 42% of the respon-
dents stating that they would not go swimming or would limit their swimming to
certain locations and times to avoid negative wildlife encounters. Other affected
activities included bush walking, diving and snorkeling, and visiting specific loca-
tions associated with threatening wildlife.
Finally, the questionnaire asked the tourists to offer recommendations to regional
management organizations for improving the provision of information about wildlife
safety issues to visitors. The open-ended answers to this question revealed a number
of themes covering both the need for more information, specifics about how to
Tourism Security and Safety: From Theory to Practice
220
Encounter is unlikely and
Encounter is unlikely but 
consequences would be not serious
consequences would be serious
Saltwater crocodile
Freshwater crocodile
Venomous snake
Cassowary
Shark
Box jellyfish
Irukandji
Encounter is likely and 
Encounter is likely and
consequences would be not serious
consequences would be serious
Poisonous spider