Spotted-necked Otters and Rubondo Island National Park, Tanzania: An Evaluative Process for Developing an Ecotourism Flagship

To most North Americans and Europeans otters are highly esteemed for intelligence, playfulness, and attractiveness. These qualities have contributed to otters receiving considerable research and conservation attention in... [ view full abstract ]

To most North Americans and Europeans otters are highly esteemed for intelligence, playfulness, and attractiveness. These qualities have contributed to otters receiving considerable research and conservation attention in North America and Europe, but much less in other regions occupied by 1 or more of the world’s 13 species of otters, including Africa. I supervised and conducted human dimensions and ecological studies at Rubondo Island National Park (RINP) to evaluate the potential of the spotted-necked otter (Hydrictis maculicollis) to serve as a flagship for promoting tourism to the Island.  In the process, I developed an integrated, conceptual model/approach comprised of 5-elements to guide the process of evaluating the potential for spotted-necked otters to serve as an ecotourism flagship:  1) presence at tourist-focused areas; 2) viewability—when, where, and how; 3) public support & tourist/tour operator interest; 4) public education; and 5) promotion of long-term persistence/monitoring.  I review each of these elements in relation to using the otter to attract additional tourism to Rubondo, focusing on methodologies and associated outcomes of field surveys to determine the presence of spotted-necked otters at tourist areas and development of logistic regression models to predict otter activity areas based on field sign (e.g., scent marking areas along shorelines), observational studies to assess if location of scent marking areas represent areas where otters are most likely to be viewed, and use of observational modelling (a modified application of occupancy modelling) to predict the “probability of viewing” spotted-necked otters based covariates such as time of day, shoreline and near-shore habitat conditions at a viewing area, and time devoted for a viewing opportunity.  These assessments demonstrated that best models derived respectively from logistic regression and observational modelling considerably enhance the likelihood of detecting presence and observing spotted-necked otters.  However, social surveys showed that the spotted-necked otter is poorly known by the public near RINP, tour operators throughout Tanzania, and international tourists.  Hence, the potential for spotted-necked otters to serve as an ecotourism flagship for RINP is severely constrained unless awareness of the species can be raised by general educational activities along with corresponding fact-based promotional activities (e.g., unique viewing opportunists).