New article on wildlife festivals in Australia
Hvenegaard, G.T. 2013. Wildlife festivals inn Australia: Characteristics, purposes and conservation potential. Australasian Parks and Leisure 16(1)
This publication includes a reference to the wildlife festival and wildlife run by WIldlife Tourism Australia in 2009
An excerpt:
The most common purposes of Australian wildlife festivals were, in descending order of frequency: 1) to educate and increase awareness of wildlife and nature; 2) to celebrate wildlife; 3) to promote conservation; 4) to demonstrate wildlife interactions; 5) to promote competition; 6) to provide nature experiences; 7) to provide entertainment; 8) to promote research; and 9) to promote local economic development.
The author expresses surprise that in a big country like Australia, with so much wildlife, there are so few wildlife festivals. He also urges more analysis of benefits to conservation and local economies.