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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology
Tourism And African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) Behavior In Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe, Brigit Rooney
Tourism And African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) Behavior In Zambezi National Park, Zimbabwe, Brigit Rooney
Masters Theses & Specialist Projects
As charismatic megafauna and a flagship species, African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are vital to the African tourist economy. Conversely, high levels of wildlife tourism can induce behavioral shifts that push desired animals into less frequented areas and disrupt natural behaviors. In order to examine this trade-off, tourism levels and African elephant behaviors were studied in Zambezi National Park (ZNP) near Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Over the course of 14 weeks, in-person observations and camera traps in ZNP were used to collect geographic, demographic, and behavioral data from elephant sightings. As a proxy for human presence, geo-locational data were collected for each …