Scientists explore privilege and consequences of recreation for people and wildlife

Recreation is a luxury, and people aren’t the only animals that recreate. Species great and small have a penchant for play, but the ability to recreate depends on resources. Colorado State University Professor Joel Berger and Yellowstone researcher Kira Cassidy explore the privilege and consequences of play in a recently published article in The Journal of Wildlife Management. 

Uneven distribution of resources gives some people and creatures more access to play than others. People with more leisure time and financial resources can travel and spend money on lodging and activities. For wildlife, resource wealth equals food abundance and quality. Animals that have to spend more time looking for food have less time and energy to play. 

Wildlife is a major draw for nature-based tourism – which attracts a staggering 8 billion annual travelers globally – but human recreation in natural areas has unintended consequences for the biodiversity that entices people to those places. Animals generally react in two different ways: they leave, expending energy and potentially abandoning good sources of food, or they become tolerant and sometimes reliant on humans for food or protection from predators. 

Most outdoor recreationists don’t want to cause any harm to wildlife. In fact, a 2023 survey of roughly 19,000 National Park visitors found that viewing wildlife or natural scenery was the top reason for visiting. 

"Most of the disturbance is unintentional,” said Berger, who is a senior scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Barbara Cox Anthony University Chair of Wildlife Conservation at CSU. “It's incumbent on all of us to try to soften our footprint." 

How to minimize disruptions to wildlife while recreating 

Berger advises a common-sense approach that includes following rules and heeding signs: Stay on the trail; give wildlife space and don’t pursue it for photos; and keep dogs on leash so they don’t chase wildlife.  

"It’s obvious that if an animal starts moving away, it's a sign that they're not all that happy,” he said. "The first stage might be vigilance – ears up, watching or hunkering down – and then starting to move.”  

Tolerance to people and infrastructure occurs when exposure is repeated and predictable, Berger said. 

"Where animals get habituated to people, they serve a good function for inspiring the public, infusing curiosity,” he added. “But even if the animals don’t look overtly stressed, they could be. They could be producing chronic stress hormones.” 

Connecting with nature can inspire people to protect it, and the paper highlights the challenges of enjoying the natural world while minimizing negative effects on its residents. 

“We have a responsibility as a species to understand the ways that we impact wildlife and the world around us," said Cassidy, a research associate with the Yellowstone Wolf Project at Yellowstone National Park. “Only by quantifying and reporting those impacts can we then make sound, science-based decisions that will lead to greater coexistence with our wild neighbors.” 

Educational outreach is a key strategy among agencies that manage land or wildlife, but it has not been effective on its own, the paper states. Solutions have included regulating activities, limiting tourist numbers and timed entry at certain sites. Seasonal closures and distance requirements are sometimes implemented to protect endangered or sensitive wildlife. 

Iconic bighorn an example of tourism impacts on wildlife 

The authors have observed altered behavior in desert bighorn sheep in response to recreation on public land in southeast Utah. Outside the national parks, motorized vehicles and non-motorized activities are permitted on many of Utah’s vast public lands. Wildlife there either grows accustomed to or flees from motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, electric bikes, mountain bikes, horses and hikers. 

Tourists start arriving in the area in spring, coinciding with the last stage of pregnancy for female bighorns, which are cautious by nature. Expectant mothers have greater nutritional demands during this time, and when they flee to more rugged habitats, they expend precious energy and may end up in places where there is less nutritious food. 

Understanding the full impact of recreation on bighorns as well as results of repeated exposure would require more research, the authors said. In the meantime, motorized vehicle use in the area has increased, with the paper noting a 14-fold uptick from 2001-2021.  

The question of why some female bighorns have not adapted to people and noise remains unanswered, but from Berger’s vantage point while studying them at a distance for decades, he has watched them depart when recreationists are too close or too loud. 

“Most people don’t realize they’ve disturbed wildlife because they never see it,” he said.