{"id":319956,"date":"2025-12-02T06:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T06:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319956\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T06:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T06:16:09","slug":"inside-the-new-movement-toward-respectful-wildlife-encounters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/319956\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the new movement toward respectful wildlife encounters"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ontario-based Follow Me North hosts wildlife photography workshops in Algonquin Park that focus on ethical interactions with animals. “We\u2019ve walked away from great photo moments that just didn\u2019t sit right with us,\u201d says co-owner Jesse Villemaire.Courtesy Follow Me North<\/p>\n

When Jesse Villemaire first started working as a wildlife photographer in 2015, he noticed other photographers doing \u201cquestionable things\u201d at the time, like feeding animals \u2013 what\u2019s referred to in the industry as baiting \u2013 to get a great shot. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just knew it felt wrong,\u201d Villemaire says. \u201cI started questioning the things that I was seeing that didn\u2019t sit right with me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Three years later, in 2018, the Muskoka, Ont.-based photographer and his wife Susan began hosting wildlife photography workshops in Algonquin Park under the name Follow Me North. In 2019, they began marketing themselves as ethical wildlife photographers. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to be the leaders in that genre and lead with the ethics more than leading with the photography,\u201d says Villemaire.<\/p>\n

Follow Me North is just one of many tourism operators taking an increasingly ethical, conservation-minded approach to wildlife experiences. The Adventure Travel Trade Association\u2019s 2025 Adventure Travel Trends & Insights report identified wildlife viewing as a top trend. The tour operators surveyed stated that wildlife protection was one of their top sustainability concerns related to tourism and that 49 per cent of respondents are shifting to more sustainable options. <\/p>\n

These trends are signs of a greater push in the tourism industry to design experiences that minimize the impact of travel. Where once tourism businesses would have relied on travellers to choose a sustainable option, by prioritizing higher standards of animal welfare, conservation education and the inclusion of First Nations, these companies are making sustainability the only choice.<\/p>\n

At Follow Me North, the ethical approach begins during client consultation calls. \u201cWe are being open and honest about what we can provide them, because we can never guarantee that we\u2019re going to find wildlife,\u201d says Villemaire.<\/p>\n

Villemaire says that wildlife photography guarantees can sometimes mean that unethical behaviour is happening in the background. \u201cOften, that means baiting a certain area for weeks to get that animal accustomed to human activity,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Another questionable act he sees is crowding an animal or getting too close to them, so the Villemaires teach their guests about respectful distances and when to rely on telephoto lenses as opposed to proximity. They also inform guests about behaviours in a species that are indicative of stress, like a moose that puts their ears back or stares directly at you. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve walked away from great photo moments that just didn\u2019t sit right with us, meaning it might have put the animal in danger,\u201d says Villemaire.<\/p>\n

Vancouver-based travel advisor Anjuli Bhatia of Canada Revealed prefers to recommend an ethical wildlife experience tour operator to clients. \u201cThat\u2019s a really big part of who I choose to work with,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Sustainable and ethical experiences feel more exclusive and appealing to tourists, too. Bhatia gives the example of polar bear viewing with Churchill Wild in Churchill, Manitoba, where walking safaris are capped at just 16 people, compared to other companies that use gas-powered tundra vehicles with up to 40 people on board. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to have a special experience, and when there are a lot of people around that are having the same experience, it ceases to be special,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

On Vancouver Island, Coastal Rainforest Safaris, a Port Hardy, B.C.-based wildlife viewing boat tour company, specializes in wildlife viewing informed by Indigenous knowledge. Its boats hold a maximum of 14 people including a guide and a driver whom are most often members of the Musgamakw Dzawada\u2018enuxw First Nations, whose territory the company operates in. <\/p>\n

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Many of Vancouver Island-based Coastal Rainforest Safaris’ tours are run by Musgamakw Dzawada\u2018enuxw First Nations staff who share cultural knowledge and stories along with wildlife sightings.Courtesy Coastal Rainforest Safaris<\/p>\n

Employing local Indigenous guides not only has an economic impact on First Nations, but it also provides guests with a richer experience. It\u2019s another way the company is making wildlife viewing more sustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndigenous people are the original stewards of the land,\u201d says co-owner Andrew Jones. \u201cI think that comes through in the way that [Indigenous people] talk about the wildlife and share information of the area with our guests.\u201d While Jones is not Indigenous, his co-owner, Mike Willie, is a member of the Musgamakw Dzawada\u2018enuxw First Nations and is the majority owner of the company.<\/p>\n

Jones and Willie want to move tourists away from \u201cchecklist\u201d wildlife viewing \u2013 ticking off the species that guests are keen to see \u2013 towards a holistic, conservation-minded approach. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we\u2019re looking for some of those big species \u2013 the whales, the humpbacks, the orcas, the sea lions and sea otters,\u201d Jones says. \u201cBut we\u2019ll also go to the kelp beds and see stars growing on the rocks.\u201d While kelp beds might not be an initial tourist draw, by bringing tourists there, Jones and his colleagues use the sightings to explain how kelp beds stop shore erosion and act as giant nurseries for other animals like sea urchins and rockfish. <\/p>\n

Conservation-minded wildlife experiences can have a lasting impact by helping to change tourist behaviours positively, long after the tour has ended. On the company\u2019s six-hour day tours, Coastal Rainforest Safaris guides often speak to the impacts that guests can have on the species they\u2019re viewing, like the types of soaps and detergents they use or how many items they\u2019re buying that are imported on shipping containers that travel through oceans. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people don\u2019t always realize is how some of the small things we do on a day-to-day basis can affect the environment,\u201d says Jones. \u201cThat\u2019s what we also try to pass along.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ontario-based Follow Me North hosts wildlife photography workshops in Algonquin Park that focus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1401,22492,1397,49,48,2922,142169,142170,66,323,142171],"class_list":["post-319956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-adveditorial","tag-adventure-travel","tag-appwebview","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-noastack","tag-ordid3879871918","tag-ordid3879873547","tag-science","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-viewing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}