RESPECTING WILDLIFE

Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, which includes all organisms that grow or lives in an area without being introduced by humans.This includes, birds, insects, plants and even microscopic organisms as well. When ever you encounter any species of wildlife, it is very important to respect and follow any protocols that are set in place. We have to remember that there is a specific reason these protocols are set in place in the first place. All living creatures should be treated as important as humans in order to maintain a healthy ecological balance.

First things first, we have to remember whenever we are in the presence of any species of wildlife, we are visitors. We are in their space, their home. Wildlife can adapt to human presence. This means whenever you encounter wildlife, there’s always going to be an impact, but its upto us to minimalize this impact. The less the interaction between humans and wildlife, the more wild, they remain.

Here are a few things to consider in a wildlife encounter. 

• Capacity- different animals will have different capacity for human interactions. Meaning this will be the maximum amount of people the animal can have in their presence without having a significant disturbance.If you have a larger group, always divide them into smaller groups. Make sure you do enough research about the animal you are going to see before the interaction. Talk to the tour operators and find out the regulations set in place. Find out if the species is threatened of endangered. Always find out what the best practice is

• Do not touch- with the growth of tourism this is an increasing concern for the wildlife. Cases of people touching animals have been repeatedly surfacing. Its normal to get the urge to touch an animal when they get close. We have to remember these are wild animals, there’s an intricate balance, when we touch an animla we are introducing them to foreign disease which could potentially have significant impact iom the animals health. For example marine species usually have a special layer of protective mucus on their skin, touching could remove the layer exposing the animal to potentail diseases. This could also scare and disturb the natural behavior of the animal. Potentially reducing the quality of encounters over time

• Do not feed-  wild animals need to find nutrition from their respective habitat. Introducing the animals to food can change their behaviour and could disrupt the the ecological role they play in the wild. This specially applies to top predators like sharks and dolphins. 

• Maintaining appropriate distance- Much like humans, animals also have their respective boundaries, respecting them are very important in an encounter. You would not want someone violating your personal space, similarly we have to ensure we are not disturbing the animal and violating their personal space. This includes, not obstructing an animal by crossing their paths. Its important to recognise the behaviors like feeding courtship, and cruising to judge the minimum distance you should maintain. Even if the animal seem relaxed never exceed the set boundaries. If you are not sure about signs of stress for the animal, you can ask your guide or do some research before hand.

• Noise- According to WHO noise pollution is one of the most hazardous forms of pollution. Nice pollution can impact the animals use of sound for navigation, finding food, mating, and avoiding predators, affecting the animals ability to survive. A paper published by Queen’s University Belfast titled ‘Biology Letters’ sheds light on the damage that noise pollution or human-made noise can have on wildlife.

In this study, over one hundred species were analysed and divided into seven groups: amphibians, arthropods, birds, fish, mammals, molluscs, and reptiles. The study was based on experiments in which different aspects of the animals’ behaviour were recorded before and after exposure to noise.The results found evidence that noise pollution impacts all seven groups of species, and the different groups didn’t differ in their response to noise.

• Reducing the speed and turning the engine off-  Over the past few years, injuries observed on marine animals have been increasing in an alarming rate. Especially in the Maldives. According to the Maldives Whaleshark Research Program, the number of whalesharks being spotted with major propeller injuries have been increasing on an alarming rate. The encounters during which sharks displayed evasive behaviors have increased 4-fold. Due to the failure to follow the appropriate rules set in this MPA, the encounters have decreased by a whooping 52.45%.

Whenever we are in the presence of any wildlife, the most important thing to remember is that they are as equal, if not more superior than the human species. We are visitors in their territory. Its very important to follow these set protocols to ensure we keep having these amazing encounters in a sustainable way.