Emmanuel Do Linh San

Animal Ethics and Ecotourism

There has recently been a spate of manuscripts submitted to South African Journal of Wildlife Research that have lacked animal ethics approvals. Clearly this is a serious concern - not only from the chance that unethical research practices have occurred but also that there are no checks and balances to ensure this is the case. In several of those cases, the manuscript has been prepared based on animals (including threatened or protected species) that were apparently fitted with tracking collars in order to increase tourist sightings for ecotourism ventures, but for which there were not ethical and/or permitting approvals. Thus, there appears to be a lack of regulation or enforcement within the ecotourism industry regarding the welfare of the fauna they are reaping profits from. This note aims to highlight the problem and identify ways to ensure animal welfare concerns are addressed prior to a study being undertaken.