Tourist Questionnaire

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In addition to directly studying the effects of tourists on the local wildlife in Tambopata, we wished to investigate the tourist’s own perceptions of the wildlife and the lodges relationship with this wildlife. Questionnaires were written (in English and Spanish) and distributed amongst tourists on their last day at a lodge to assess their opinions on various aspects of their trip and the wildlife experience.

General Information (N = 45)

Package Tour = 78% Independent Tour = 20% NA = 2%

          Average = 3

A general interest in nature 54%

To observe birds 13%

To observe mammals 7%

To observe flora 7%

To film or photograph nature 7%

To rest 6%

To observe amphibians and reptiles 4%

Other. 2%

          YES = 55% NO = 42% NA = 3%

          YES = 15% NO = 71% NA = 14 %

          YES = 56% NO = 33% NA = 11%

* Actually saw > Expected to see

          YES = 58% NO = 33% NA = 9%

Average = 8 Maximum = 17 Minimum = 2

          YES = 80% NO = 20% NA = 0%

          YES = 86% NO = 11% NA = 3%

          YES = 84% NO = 16% NA = 0%

          YES = 84% NO = 16% NA = 0%

          YES = 82% NO = 18% NA = 0%

          YES = 96% NO = 4% NA = 0%

          YES = 56% NO = 44% NA = 0%

          YES = 60% NO = 38% NA = 2%

Herpetofauna (N = 116)

* Actually saw > Expected to see

Of course 49 No 0

Yes 41 Never 0

Neutral 19

Of course 48 No 4

Yes 41 Never 2

Neutral 15

Of course 4 No 33

Yes 4 Never 57

Neutral 12

Of course 42 No 4

Yes 40 Never 4

Neutral 40

Of course 2 No 28

Yes 4 Never 69

Neutral 8

YES = 73% NO = 27%

Birds (N = 116)

YES = 26% NO = 74%

YES = 13% NO = 87%

YES = 57% NO = 43%

YES = 93% NO = 7%

YES = 69% NO = 31%

A total of 161 questionnaires were completed by tourists staying at ECO, CAPH, EI, and the Tambopata Jungle Lodge (a lodge that was not included in the main study). The vast majority of tourists arrived as members of package tours. Such tours rarely spend more than three days in the rainforest, hence the average length of stay was relatively low (3 days) although 2 days are generally spent getting to and leaving each lodge. Most tourists had a general interest in the area’s nature and wildlife although between 13-22% of them were primarily interested in the birdlife and considered themselves as "birdwatchers".

When considering the preconceptions of what the tourists expect to see compared to the wildlife that they actually saw, the herpetofauna group fared the best. In general, tourists saw more reptiles and amphibians, in both species and abundance, than they expected to see. Nevertheless, the vast majority of tourists, who observed more herpetofauna than expected, would have liked to have observed even more! This highlights the tourists’ interest in frogs, lizards, and snakes. Herpetofauna is likely to grow in importance as a tourist attraction, especially if more information is made available to the tourist. However, care will have to be taken in the future with regards to viewing these groups of animals, as it is evident that some species are negatively affected by the presence of people.

Amongst the mammals, monkeys were expected from many tourists and on the whole they were observable, due to the relatively high abundance of one or two species such as the saddleback tamarin and the squirrel monkey. On the whole only monkeys and bats lived up to expectations, all other mammal groups were observed too infrequently for the likings of tourists. This may be part of the reason for the low level of satisfaction with mammal sightings expressed by the tourists (only 58%), which may also explain why only 60% of tourists stated that they would recommend a lodge based on the observable mammals alone.

Between 80-86% of tourists questioned would consider either walking further, getting up earlier, walking at night and/or using hides or platforms to improve their chances of seeing more mammals. The importance of the trained tour guides, provided by the lodges, should not be underestimated in bringing tourists and wildlife together; 82% said their guides were influential in helping the tourists encounter and observe mammals. Guides and their tour groups should spend longer periods in the forest immediately around the lodge where wildlife is likely to be more habituated, in order to better understanding the home ranges and habits of local mammal groups, particularly monkeys and to improve the chances of encountering mammals that are less likely to flee, thus improving the satisfaction levels of the visitors which is generally the bottom line in any tourist operation.

With regards to the birds, both macaws/parrots and toucans were the most popular although only the former lived up to expectations. These two groups of colourful and noisy birds have also been found to be very popular tourist attractions in other areas (Munn 1992). Macaws and parrots, furthermore, were found to abound in small flocks in the forest canopy of Tambopata and are relatively easily observed by tourists at most of the lodges. However, birds such as manakins were little known and hardly seen at all, although they have beautiful plumage and exhibit interesting courtship behaviour in the form of dancing in an understorey arena, or "lek". One unexpected result was that although 48% of tourists expected to see a Harpy Eagle, 12% said they actually did see one. This sighting figure is very high considering the sighting frequency the authors experienced. It is most likely that the majority of these are actually mistaken identities on behalf of the tourists or their tour guides. The majority of guides are unfamiliar with bird identification (Lloyd, pers. obs.) and more effort in such training should be given. Furthermore, nearly 70% of tourists consider it is essential to have an ornithologist employed as a guide, which would be particularly useful for specialist birdwatching groups, and who could help provide appropriate training in bird identification to other less specialised guides. Tourists also consider that tree platforms and hides are important for viewing birdlife. These results show that 53% of birds are observable in the mid-canopy to canopy levels in the forest, while another 8% of birds were recorded flying above the canopy.

All tourists expressed a need for more information about the wildlife groups in the area. If more information were provided, lesser known species could become more interesting to tourists which would likely improve overall visitor satisfaction levels. The most basic information that should be provided are illustrated field guides to the major wildlife groups, although more detailed information on a limited number of species at each lodge, would be advantageous and each lodge should endeavour to identify which species should be investigated.

One very important finding was the almost unanimous opinion against the lodges keeping wild animals as pets; consequently, lodges who undertake this practice should relinquish this false attraction. We documented numerous cases of wild animals being traded with lodges as pets, and numerous pet deaths as a consequence of poor or negligent husbandry. We are particularly concerned with the case of the islands in the Madre de Dios river which currently harbour the majority of the area’s tourist pets. The conditions on the islands and the lack of professional veterinary care are inappropriate and such sites should be banned, both in the interest of the animals concerned and for the long-term benefit of the areas tourist industry. A common point made by the lodges, to attempt to explain the reason for having pets, was that they were to be eventually reintroduced to the forest (Lloyd, pers. obs.), but no official reintroduction plans or other evidence was given in support this. Furthermore, it is potentially very hazardous to reintroduce animals that have been in contact with humans and domestic pets, as the transmission of diseases to wild populations could be detrimental.

Numerous additional negative comments were made by tourists including: badly kept trails that were too muddy and unkept; trails that were too short in some cases and too long in others; and most tour group sizes were considered too large.