Accessibility to elephants as tourism flagship species

Abstract

Mole National Park (MNP), Ghana’s largest protected area and most notable wildlife destination, permits tourists to view elephants and other wildlife species in their natural habitat. The elephant, a charismatic mega-herbivore and one of the ‘Big Five’ plays a flagship role in attracting tourists world- wide to protected areas. The paucity of information on habitat conditions, elephant numbers, trends and distribution has brought some uncertainty regarding elephants in tourism activities of the park. This study used both spatial data and structured questionnaire to examine the prevalence and distribution of elephants in MNP and the likelihood of tourists encountering elephants while visiting the park. A total of 120 respondents formed the basis of the study. Results revealed a drastic decline in elephant encounters in 2009 accompanied by a slight increase in 2011. The study showed that presence of the elephants has a significant effect on tourists’ patronage of the park.