Wildlife Equity and Multi-Species Tourism Justice: Professor Carol Kline on Sustainable Tourism and Animals

I love hearing about "wildlife equity" for the wild animals who are often an integral focus of tourists. As ecotourists, we long to see amazing wild animals, but how can we ensure we aren’t endangering or harming them and putting ourselves or tourism profit before the lives and wellbeing of local humans and other animals in these tourism hotspots? To tell us about her (and co-authors') concept of wildlife equity and multispecies tourism justice is our guest Dr. Carol Kline, Appalachian State University Professor and Hospitality & Tourism Management Program Director, in the Department of Management. She recently edited two books about the ethics of eating animals within the context of tourism: called “Animals, Food & Tourism” and “Tourism Experiences & Animal Consumption: Contested Values, Morality, & Ethics.” An intersectional scholar, she is part of a network of researchers who focus on Race, Ethnicity, & Social Equity in Tourism.

In this 30-minute podcast with host Carrie Freeman, Dr. Kline tells us about the burgeoning scholarship and advocacy on wildlife equity in tourism, and how to reduce risks to wildlife, respect animals' will/agency/privacy, what would be responsible marketing and transparency from wildlife tourism operators, and issues related to responsible food consumption while on vacation, including maintaining your own value system when traveling while still trying to enjoy local culture (authentically). Plus we address what we can do to be responsible ecotourists when nonhuman animals are part of our trip plans, since so many of us love and appreciate the more-than-human world.

In Tune to Nature is a weekly show airing on Wednesdays from 6:30-7pm EST on Atlanta indie station WRFG (Radio Free Georgia) 89.3FM hosted by Carrie Freeman or Melody Paris. Please consider donating to support this 50plus-year old independent, progressive, noncommercial Atlanta radio station at www.wrfg.org 

Take care of yourself and others, including other species, like the wild animals we share the planet with.

Image Credit: Carrie Freeman took this image of a humpback near Juneau, Alaska on a whale watching tour in 2024. The small boat near the whale was not moving and the whale chose to get close to it, but boats are required to back off to a certain distance when near whales. I was on a whale watch tourboat that is a member of the Whale Sense program that I mention in this podcast and I zoomed in to get this image as the whales were feeding on herring, swimming around us.