Fonte: El Periplo Sustentable; Núm. 46 (2024): Número cuarenta y seis; 71 - 93
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Resumo: Wildlife tourism can have a positive impact on biodiversity conservation, although it can also affect the well-being of wildlife, causing changes in their behavior, physiology and even death. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review of the impact of tourism on wildlife in South America, to identify the animals involved, types of tourism, indicators used to assess welfare, effects produced and recommendations provided by the authors. To carry out this study, the PRISMA methodology was used and platforms such as Google Scholar®, SciELO Citation Index®, Redalyc® and MEDLINE were examined, considering original articles and short communications from 2011 to 2022. After a rigorous selection process, a total of 30 articles were analyzed. The studies analyzed were mostly in English and conducted in Brazil, Argentina and Peru. They focused mainly on mammals, ecotourism and wildlife tourism, using behavioral indicators followed by diversity and abundance, and to a lesser extent, physiological indicators. Regarding the evaluated impacts related to human activity, it was found that human presence or contact (43.3%) and vehicles or boats (20.0%) were the predominant factors, causing a negative effect in 46.7% of the studies, followed by a mixed impact in 30% and no effect in 23.3%. The main recommendations for minimizing the impact of tourism on wildlife include regulating the behavior of tour operators and tourists, such as controlling noise, the number of visitors and the distance of approach, and the creation of exclusive no-tourist zones. In addition, it is considered necessary to carry out more studies and update policies to improve the sustainability of wildlife tourism.
