An overcrowded city with little or no security was likely to have the most severe impact on local wildlife and wildlife habitat, the researchers wrote, a problem that had yet to be addressed.
“We’re talking a state of emergency with respect to tourism and wildlife protection,” said Dr. Thomas M. Spadola of the University of Missouri. In those areas, there is little wildlife habitat to feed those creatures.
The researchers noted that if a large-sized tourist would visit a park or wildlife protected area, they could see hundreds of small animals as well as the hundreds of other species they might encounter. For example, they noted a pair of red mink deer on the shore of a creek in a community of 12,000 residents. Another large white panda was seen about 100 feet from the pond in a rural area.