DOCTORAL THESIS Investigating Primate Tourism in Morocco Using a Multidisciplinary Approach Maréchal, Laëtitia
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DOCTORAL THESIS Investigating primate tourism in Morocco using a multidisciplinary approach Maréchal, Laëtitia Award date: 2015 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 06. Oct. 2021 Investigating primate tourism in Morocco using a multidisciplinary approach Moroccan tourist feeding an adult female Barbary macaque. By Laëtitia Maréchal, BSc., MSc., MRes. A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Life Sciences University of Roehampton 2015 Abstract Abstract Wildlife tourism is a growing industry, with potential benefits for the conservation of endangered species. In this thesis, I explore wildlife tourism at a site in Morocco, using a multidisciplinary approach which considers both the attitudes and expectations of tourists, and the responses of, and impacts on, Barbary macaques. Different types of tourists, mostly Moroccan nationals, visited the site and frequently gave food to the macaques. The desire to feed the monkeys appeared to be driven by different motivations such as the reward from sharing food, the creation of a relationship or taking control over these animals. Such interactions therefore shape a particular tourist experience; this can lead in some cases to a degree of disappointment about the authenticity of the wildlife experience. Considering how the monkeys responded to tourists, I found evidence that they use a range of behavioural coping mechanisms to cope with the potentially conflicting motivational situations associated with the risks of interacting with tourists and the attraction of potential food. I propose a framework to aid understanding of how the trade-off between threat and attraction can lead to different coping mechanisms being deployed. Looking at potential effects of tourist provisioning on the health of the macaques, I found evidence for potential negative impacts in terms of increased risk of disease transmission, elevated stress levels and increased body size. The results also i Abstract highlighted the key issue of not knowing what is optimum health in wild animals, making interpretation of the findings difficult. The multidisciplinary approach adopted in this thesis provided a useful tool to explore different aspects of primate tourism at the site from both tourist and animal standpoints. This approach led to the development of a new concept, optimal provisioning, which takes into consideration the different costs and benefits of provisioning wildlife to the various parties involved. It is hoped that this approach will prove useful in developing pragmatic solutions to the question of whether and how much provisioning may be acceptable in wildlife tourism contexts. ii Table of contents Table of contents Abstract ............................................................................................................ p.i Table of contents ............................................................................................. p.iii List of figures.................................................................................................... p.vii List of tables ..................................................................................................... p.x List of abbreviations ........................................................................................ p.xiii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... p.xiv Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................... p.1 1.1 Wildlife tourism ..................................................................................... p.3 1.2 Perspectives of tourists involved in wildlife tourism ............................ p.13 1.3 Wildlife tourism from animals’ standpoint ........................................... p.21 1.4 Research aims ........................................................................................ p.36 Chapter 2: General methods ........................................................................... p.40 2.1 Study species ......................................................................................... p.40 2.2 Study sites and study subjects............................................................... p.45 2.3 Data collection ....................................................................................... p.50 2.4 General data analysis ............................................................................ p.75 Chapter 3: Feeding monkeys as tourist experience in Morocco ................... p.83 3.1 Description of primate tourism at the tourist site in Morocco ............. p.84 3.2 Interacting with monkeys as a tourist experience ................................ p.92 3.3 Tourists’ motivations ............................................................................. p.98 3.4 Problems caused by unauthorised feeding and why tourists do not stop feeding animals ............................................................................. p.115 iii Table of contents 3.5 Impact of feeding wild monkeys on tourists’ experience ..................... p.120 3.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................. p.124 Chapter 4: Behavioural responses of wild Barbary macaques to tourist pressure ......................................................................................... p.126 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... p.126 4.1.1 Environmental stress .................................................................... p.128 4.1.2 Types of coping mechanisms ......................................................... p.131 4.1.3 Chapter aim ................................................................................... p.139 4.2 Methods ................................................................................................ p.140 4.2.1 Behavioural data collection ........................................................... p.140 4.2.2 Variables ........................................................................................ p.141 4.2.3 Statistical analysis .......................................................................... p.141 4.3 Results ................................................................................................... p.148 4.3.1 Barbary macaques’ responses to tourist pressure ........................ p.148 4.3.2 Result summary .......................................................................... p.174 4.4 Discussion .............................................................................................. p.179 4.4.1 Hypothesis 1: Barbary macaques adjust their position to cope with tourists .................................................................... p.179 4.4.2 Hypothesis 2: Barbary macaques use social support to cope with tourists .................................................................... p.187 4.4.3 Hypothesis 3: Barbary macaques use displacement behaviours to cope with tourists ................................................. p.190 4.4.4 Coping mechanisms in wild Barbary macaques ............................ p.197 4.4.5 Caveats and directions for future research ................................... p.205 4.4.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................... p.206 Chapter 5: Impacts of tourist provisioning on the health of wild Barbary macaques ....................................................................................... p.208 5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... p.208 5.1.1 Provisioning wild animals .............................................................. p.208 5.1.2 Assessing animals’ health status ................................................... p.213 iv Table of contents 5.1.3 Chapter aims .................................................................................. p.223 5.2 Methods ................................................................................................ p.226 5.2.1 Data collection ............................................................................... p.226 5.2.2 Description of variables ................................................................. p.226 5.2.3 Statistical analysis.......................................................................... p.227 5.3 Results ................................................................................................... p.230 5.3.1 Dietary composition in the Tourist Group and the Green Group .................................................................................... p.230 5.3.2 Direct comparison