Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Figure 1
Risk matrix combining perceptions of likelihood and seriousness of wildlife encounters.
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deliver the information, concerns over creating unnecessary fear, and discussions of
responsibility for managing the risks associated with wildlife encounters. Nearly one
tenth of the responses given to this question (9%) suggested that further information
was not necessary either because what existed was sufficient (“I don’t think there is
much to warn people about; I’ve seen signs everywhere there is a potential risk”) or
because the core responsibility for managing risk in wildlife encounters lay with the
Tourists and Wildlife: When Encounters Go Wrong
221
Deaths per
million people
per year
Perceived Risk
Actual Risk
z
y
x
w
Climbing Mount Everest
Nearly 1 in 10 people who try to climb
Mt Everest is killed in the attempt
100,000
v
u
t
s
Stuntman
A stuntman faces this level of risk
on the job
r
10,000
q
p
o
Flying at an airshow
Flying an airplane at an airshow
is considered this risky
n
m
1,000
l
k
Tractor driver 
Driving a farm tractor 
in Queensland is this risky
j
i
100
h
Motor vehicle in Queensland
Queensland motorists are exposed to
this level of risk on the road
g
f
e
10
d
c
b
Riding a horse for pleasure
Horse riders in Queensland face
this level of risk
a
0
No risk
1,000,000
Cassowary, 3.0 
Shark, 5.0 
Estuarine Crocodile, 6.0
Venomous Snake, 7.0
Poisonous Spider, 7.0
Marine Stinger, 11.0