Tom Moorhouse
Tom works for the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. He completed his DPhil on the subject of water vole conservation ecology in 2003 and went on to design and implement a replicated water vole reintroduction experiment which resulted in the successful establishment of seven new populations of these endangered rodents. He has just finished a studies examining the distribution and impacts of American signal crayfish upon British riparian flora and aquifauna, and on how hedgehogs move through the arable landscape. Recently he had embarked on studies examining the welfare and conservation impacts of the human use of wildlife for recreation and tourism.
Address: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit
Department of Zoology
Tubney House
Abingdon Road
Tubney, Oxfordshire
OX13 5QL
Britain
Address: Wildlife Conservation Research Unit
Department of Zoology
Tubney House
Abingdon Road
Tubney, Oxfordshire
OX13 5QL
Britain
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of freshwaters appears to result in impacts that are wide ranging and severe while being indirect, diffuse, and difficult to both detect and predict. For these reasons, we conclude that freshwater invasive species represent a special case,
when compared with terrestrial invasives, in which the likelihood of negative impacts, and their effects, is disproportionately severe. We suggest that future
approaches to research in this area should aim to audit the full array of impacts of a number of representative invasive species,with a view to building an evidence base
to support the global implementation of a precautionary approach to the release of aquatic freshwater non-native species.
but no studies have audited the diversity of WTAs and their impacts on the conservation status and welfare of subject animals. We scored these impacts for 24 types of WTA,
visited by 3.6–6 million tourists per year, and compared our scores to tourists’ feedback on TripAdvisor. Six WTA types (impacting 1,500–13,000 individual animals) had net positive
conservation/welfare impacts, but 14 (120,000–340,000 individuals) had negative conservation impacts and 18 (230,000–550,000 individuals) had negative welfare impacts.
Despite these figures only 7.8% of all tourist feedback on these WTAs was negative due to conservation/welfare concerns. We demonstrate that WTAs have substantial negative effects that are unrecognised by the majority of tourists, suggesting an urgent need for tourist education and regulation of WTAs worldwide.
of freshwaters appears to result in impacts that are wide ranging and severe while being indirect, diffuse, and difficult to both detect and predict. For these reasons, we conclude that freshwater invasive species represent a special case,
when compared with terrestrial invasives, in which the likelihood of negative impacts, and their effects, is disproportionately severe. We suggest that future
approaches to research in this area should aim to audit the full array of impacts of a number of representative invasive species,with a view to building an evidence base
to support the global implementation of a precautionary approach to the release of aquatic freshwater non-native species.
but no studies have audited the diversity of WTAs and their impacts on the conservation status and welfare of subject animals. We scored these impacts for 24 types of WTA,
visited by 3.6–6 million tourists per year, and compared our scores to tourists’ feedback on TripAdvisor. Six WTA types (impacting 1,500–13,000 individual animals) had net positive
conservation/welfare impacts, but 14 (120,000–340,000 individuals) had negative conservation impacts and 18 (230,000–550,000 individuals) had negative welfare impacts.
Despite these figures only 7.8% of all tourist feedback on these WTAs was negative due to conservation/welfare concerns. We demonstrate that WTAs have substantial negative effects that are unrecognised by the majority of tourists, suggesting an urgent need for tourist education and regulation of WTAs worldwide.