How to Preserve the Brand Value of Sri Lanka’s Wildlife Tourism
Photos courtesy of Gautham Kumar
Today is Sri Lankan Leopard Day
On August 1 Sri Lanka celebrates Sri Lankan Leopard Day, which will be observed annually following a proposal from the Wildlife and Nature Preservation Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS), the country’s oldest (and the world’s third oldest) nature protection society. This day aims to highlight the importance of the Sri Lankan leopard, an iconic species central to the country’s wildlife tourism.
In July 2024, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) arranged for a group of tour operators to attend with it the world-famous Bird Fair, the largest wildlife tourism event of its kind. This was not the first time the SLTPB had attended. Previously, when the energetic Nalin Perera managed the SLTPB office in London, he would book a stand. But this was the first time the SLTPB had brought a delegation of tour operators from Colombo for the Bird Fair and they had arranged the stall in a style close to the format seen at business to business events such as World Travel Mart (WTM). Sarangi Thilakasena from the SLTPB office in Colombo who led the delegation also interviewed me with a professional videographer as they wanted some wildlife highlight soundbites from me. One of the questions she asked me was in relation to the ethics of wildlife viewing and the issue of harassment to animals. Increasingly, there are complaints, especially from foreign tour operators and also from local tourism companies that unethical and unregulated wildlife watching is damaging the reputation of Sri Lanka.
Species such as leopards and blue whales have become iconic wildlife brands for Sri Lanka. But wildlife tourism centred around them seem to be at risk of becoming a victim of its own success due to the visitor traffic not being managed. I have been asked about this for a number of years, especially so because it is public knowledge that I have played a pivotal role in developing leopard safaris as a tourism product. This was part of a wider message that Sri Lanka is the best for big game safaris outside Africa. This in turn was part of the even bigger message that Sri Lanka is arguably the best all round wildlife destination in the world for its combination of large charismatic animals that can be seen easily at sea and on land, incredible biodiversity, varied topography and habitats with good roads and tourism infrastructure.
Initially, in the early 2000s, the idea that Sri Lanka could brand itself for leopard safaris was met with scepticism and disbelief (and even perhaps a hint of by scorn) by people who had been in tourism for many years. Roll forward two decades and it has become a problem that continues to attract irate comments by local conservationists and disappointing reviews of bad behaviour by local and foreign visitors. On a similar theme, there are equally valid concerns about whale watching boats crowding around blue whales. Again, I receive a lot of comments on this as I played a pivotal role in publicising Sri Lanka as a top destination for whale watching.
For a tourism industry to perform well, many players are needed on the stage. The tourism companies have to play their role with the state tourism development agencies to brand and publicise the products. Keeping pace with this has to be the management of visitors and the provision of visitor facilities by the state agencies who manage the national parks and reserves. By and large, we are fortunate that in Sri Lanka the larger tourism companies and industry bodies with their state tourism counterparts are happy to spend the time that is needed to engage with the state authorities who manage the parks and reserves to establish a framework that works well for everyone in a manner that is also responsible towards the wellbeing of the animals. Many other countries, including others in the Asian region, faced with over visitation have responded with solutions. It seems puzzling that Sri Lanka which has such well-educated and well-travelled people in the private sector and government sector have not found a way forward. This is surprising given that modern technology makes management even easier and Sri Lanka has shown that it is quick to adopt technology, especially the use of phone apps. In case it helps, let me outline a few ways, how the visitor experience can be improved.
Firstly, let me articulate that there are two strands of thought here. Firstly, that the welfare of the subject comes first. Secondly, that the experience also needs to be managed for the visitor. Sometimes, the two strands are very closely interwoven. Both are important, in different ways, although they are interwoven and in some cases they are not.
Imagine a keen bird photographer comes across a group of migrant waders at a coastal estuary. Let’s assume that in this location it is permitted to approach the birds on foot. The site in question may well be a public beach. An ethical photographer will make a slow and careful approach, taking care to avoid putting the birds to flight. An ethical photographer will maintain what is a safe and comfortable distance for the birds. An ethical photographer will not consider getting a frame filling photograph at the risk of putting the birds to flight. Disturbing feeding birds can be harmful to migrant waders and waterfowl who may have flown thousands of kilometres to reach their wintering sites. It can literally mean the difference between life and death. Furthermore, individual birds are sentient beings. A Bar-tailed Godwit you are watching in Sri Lanka may have travelled to the same site for 25 consecutive years. It is not right to disturb a bird that is feeding and potentially imperil its life. But a lot of people are not aware of this and education is the key.
In contrast, take the case of approaching a leopard too closely. In Sri Lanka, as vehicles are not allowed to go off road (and most adult leopards hunt at night), the chances of a vehicle forcing a hunting leopard to abort a hunt is minimal. However, a group of vehicles could surround a resting leopard. Who is being disturbed in this situation? I have been in situations where neither is being disturbed. In April 2005, in the early days when I was branding Sri Lanka as a destination for leopard safaris, I came across a group 18 vehicles that were parked close to a tree atop which a leopard sub-adult was dozing. Its image was one of the images used at the Global Bird Fair 2024 for an information flyer published by John Beaufoy Publishing in association with the SLTPB. The occupants of the safari vehicles behaved impeccably. Engines were switched off. No one talked loudly or shouted across from one vehicle to another. There was no jostling for position. No angry exchanges between vehicles as occupants put their safari vehicle drivers under pressure to take them close to take a picture on their phone (phone cameras were not a thing then). It was a lovely, calm, leopard watching experience. The leopard continued to doze and one by one the vehicles peeled away to exit the park by closing time.
Twenty years on, the situation is different. A leopard cub or sub-adult may still be dozing or resting calmly on a tree or on the ground with twenty or more vehicles around it. The leopard can walk away at any time when the din becomes too much. So we can conclude that if the leopard is staying it is not being disturbed as such. However, it is a distressing and unpleasant experience for anyone with a genuine interest in wildlife. It is usually a scene that brings out the worst in people with vehicles jostling for position, each driver under pressure so that their occupants can take pictures to be uploaded to social media. There are angry exchanges and the atmosphere is very bad. This type of scene may not imperil the life of a leopard who is habituated to safari vehicle, but it damages the reputation of the safari industry and leaves foreign wildlife tour operators loathe to list sites such as Yala as part of a wildlife itinerary.
What can be done? A simple and practicable and workable solution is to space out visitors spatially and temporally. There is no magic in this. For a few decades now, museums and other visitor attractions around the world have been issuing visitors with tickets that can be purchased online which work on a timed entry basis. National parks and reserves in other parts of the world have also implemented routes and times, which limit the number of vehicles or visitors. Furthermore, they can also be subject to differential pricing. In the case of national parks, we should consider defined routes that limit the number of vehicles in each route, timed entry and differential pricing. Many permutations are possible and the final solution needs to strike a sensible balance between having the desired outcome and not being too complicated for people to use. I will outline a simple model to introduce the concept.
For the purpose of illustration, let’s say for example, a national park has three routes, A, B and C. The key point in defining the routes is that they have a more or less equally good chance of seeing an iconic animal like a leopard., sloth bear or elephant. So, there can be no criticism that it is undemocratic and only the rich are offered a chance of seeing a charismatic animal. The key element here is that the routes differ in the number of vehicles that are permitted during the course of the day. The routes can have resident and foreign rates. I am not proposing rates or the limits on the numbers of vehicles in this article, but just for the sake of illustration, I have conjured up some arbitrary foreign rates and vehicle limit numbers.
Route A can be for those who are very keen wildlife enthusiasts and wildlife photographers who want an experience as little disturbed as possible by other vehicles. Let’s say for example, on Route A, only a maximum of 25 vehicles are allowed and the foreign entrance ticket is $150 per person. For residents and Sri Lanka nationals, it should be much lower, say for example Rs.3,000. A keen leopard photographer will therefore either themselves or through a tour operator book one of the limited vehicle entry tickets and also purchase individual passenger tickets. I don’t want to get mired in the details, but let’s assume the finer details can be worked out. For example, if initially the vehicle is booked for two people but four people arrive, let’s assume tickets can be bought for the extra two people, at the relevant rates based on age (adult/child) and residency status (local/foreign). Let’s also assume that each route will have their own vehicle entry prices. But for now, let’s leave the detail for later and focus on the concept.
Is this hypothetical $150 ticket unfair and pricing out those who are less affluent? No. As stated earlier, those who can’t afford this can opt for a cheaper ticket on Routes B and C, which also allows an equally good chance of seeing a leopard or sloth bear or elephant. Albeit, that the cheaper routes will more vehicles on the route. It’s like going into a restaurant and deciding whether you want to order a 20 dollar or 100 dollar bottle of wine. Both ordering options give you a chance to dine at the restaurant but you pay for what you can afford for the specifics of the experience.
The choice of route is also not about having the money; it also depends on what you want and what would be sensible to pay for that. Let’s imagine that Route B allows 50 vehicles and is for priced at $100, Route C allows 200 vehicles a day and is priced at $50 (the route tickets being much lower for residents and Sri Lankans). It makes no sense for a birdwatcher to take Route A at $150 when Route C will be just as good. Furthermore, a keen birder may elect to start the day just before day break by first birdwatching in the grounds of the lodge they are staying at to see at close range the scrub and forest birds. Followed by breakfast at 8 am and then at 9 am be ready go into the park and look for birds like larks and pipits in more open habitats such as grasslands, raptors in the sky, waders on coastal habitats and other scrub and forest birds likely to be seen on a safari drive.
A further enhancement is that on Routes B and C, traffic can be managed with timed entry. Let’s say on Routes B and C, there is a cheaper rate for people if vehicles enter between 9am and 12 noon and exit by 2 pm (before the evening peak starts at 2.30 pm). Let’s say on Route B this is $50 and on Route C, this is $25. The birdwatcher can now make a conscious decision to go for a post-breakfast visit to the park on Route C, which costs only $25.
The differential pricing on the routes and times allows people to tailor their payment to the experience they want. Route C will likely be the preferred route for local people on coach trips on a pilgrimage and detouring to sightsee Yala as a park. These locals can have a ticket price similar to what they pay now and there should be no concern of pricing out local people on low incomes.
Is this difficult to implement? No. Sri Lanka has a high mobile phone user penetration. We saw the use of phone apps for queuing for fuel during the economic crisis in 2022. People from all walks of life use various mobile phone apps linked to their bank accounts. Some of the world’s best tech companies have their software developers based in Sri Lanka. It should be easy to have tour operators and members of the public buy tickets online via a web interface or a phone app.
What about whale watching? When whales are encountered by boats they are almost always feeding and arguably it is more of an adverse impact in terms of the welfare of the subject. They are sensitive to underwater noise and will be disturbed if they are surrounded by boats who keep their engines on. It is always not bad. I have been at sightings where boats leaving the harbour have approached a whale, strung themselves out along a line just on one side of the whales and switched off their engines. Unfortunately, what is more typical is a mad dash by several boats that surround a whale with people demanding to get close to take a picture on their phone. Two approaches are needed. One, that is work in progress by one or more conservation NGOs is to educate the boat operators on responsible whale watching. The other is to regulate the number and time of going out to sea of whale watching boat traffic. With whale watching, unlike with terrestrial national parks, it would not be practical to specify routes. But the rush of boats to a feeding whale can be reduced by adopting the concept of timed entry tickets (and perhaps using differential pricing), to spread out the visitor traffic. Admittedly, enforcing the number of boats with whale watching is harder as there is no single point of access under the control of the wildlife department. Nevertheless, whether it is for leopards or whales, the issue of visitor management is a problem that has been solved many times by park authorities from around the world in different ways. Sri Lanka can easily adopt a technology-based solution and use the in-country expertise it has in software development towards creating a better experience for wildlife and people.
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