Q: Even the Yellow-Eyed Penguins? A: Aye, Even Them.

Courtesy of reader Honest comes this Reuters account that eco-tourism is dangerous for bottleneck dolphins and other living creatures.

Biologists and conservationists are worried because polar bears, dolphins, penguins and other creatures are getting stressed and losing weight and some are dying.

"Evidence is growing that many animals do not react well to tourists in their backyard," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

Whole thing here.

Comments

[B.P.]

Do these creatures get stressed when biologists and conservationists are in their backyard studying the effects of the tourists on them?

[Hydroman]

DON`T MESS WITH THE DUDE THAT CHECKS
THE STRESS HORMONE LEVELS OF THE POLAR
BEARS.Anybody need a job?

[Brendan Perez]

Gee, what a shock. I bet my stress levels would go up too if I had tourists literally in my backyard staring at me all the time. Not to mention the screams and objects thrown at me by strangers.

When I think of zoo animals, I don’t think low stress living.

[Ruthless]

Simple solution: drill for oil or mine some natural resource right under a penguin’s snoot.
That’ll gross out nosy tourists fer sure.

[joe]

I’m not certain, but I believe that this is the first time I have even seen a post on Reason Online that expressed concern about the impact of human activity on wildlife, as opposed to just dismissing concerns that others raise. What’s the topic again – oil drilling? Chemical damage to coral reefs? Deforestation? Climate change-induced habitat shift?

Oh – ecotourism, that global threat.

Do you deliberately pick your causes based on who what people you dislike think, or is it a coincidence.

[Fred]

Joe,

I welcome discussions of environmental concern on this web site, but some topics, like this one, are just plain stupid. I guess the reason libertarians aren’t give their proper consideration for environmental concern is that many of us come across as corporatist Republicans.

I remeber that the shortest political quiz seemed to poo-poo the idea of left and right when it comes to libertarianism, but I am firmly in the Leftist-libertarian camp.

Damn, thought I had something to say. Guess not.

[Citizen]

Survival of the fittest, right? Let the strong survive, or adapt or let the pansies go extinct.

Brendan,
I don’t know about that. There’s a really amusing defense of zoos in the opening chapters of Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi. The thought is that, what they hell would an animal want to be in the wild for? In a zoo they get food, water, shade, a bit of room, mates, medical care, a free ride, a lifetime of not having to do anything. Plus they don’t have to worry about being eaten. Not bad.