Binge-watching bears: Comparing online and onsite viewing experiences

The brown bear viewing experience at Katmai National Park is an archetypal example of the park management dilemma. Wildlife viewing has been shown to foster strong connections to the animals and drive conservation behaviors.... [ view full abstract ]

The brown bear viewing experience at Katmai National Park is an archetypal example of the park management dilemma. Wildlife viewing has been shown to foster strong connections to the animals and drive conservation behaviors. However, this desire to see wildlife can lead to ‘loving it death’ scenarios, wherein the daily and long-term survival of the animal is compromised. Further compounding these issues at Katmai is the highly compressed visitation season and remote location of the park. Managers must accommodate short, but extreme, bursts of visitation, which coincide with bears’ critical feeding on sedges and salmon. To facilitate the onsite bear viewing experience, the park has several viewing platforms. Recently the park has added several live webcams to broadcast the bear viewing experience and ranger chats. However, the webcam experience has not been evaluated. This study compared outcomes of the onsite and online bear viewing experience. Onsite (n = 245) and online (n = 5628) data were collected from June – August 2016. Online visitors expressed a stronger connection to the bears and were significantly more supportive of restrictive management scenarios than onsite visitors. Both onsite and online visitors’ emotional connection to bears was a strong predictor of supporting more restrictive management. Managers may consider increasing the role of webcams to increase relevancy, improve the viewing experience, and foster support for park and conservation issues.