Balancing ecotourism and conservation management
It is evident in our study that urban tourists perceive bat-watching as an important initiative to raise awareness for bat conservation. However, ecotourism should follow regulations and focus on the true concepts of ecotourism. Cave tourism is among the key threats for global bats (Furey and Racey 2015; Tanalgo et al. 2018) that can stem from a lack of sustainable management. The apparent impact of cave ecotourism on bats occurs when visitors introduce loud noises, add light and cause environmental and atmospheric changes (Cardiff et al. 2012). These have detrimental effects on bat physiology and behaviour (Speakman et al. 1991) and altering reproductive success and patterns of bats (e.g., gestation) (Biswas et al. 2011; Furey et al. 2011). The negative impacts of unregulated cave tourism and religious activities have greater implications in regions where such activities are famous, and there is high reproductive synchrony among species (e.g., in Southeast Asia, Lim et al. 2018). Likewise, cave tourism increases emerging disease transmission risks spatially and between humans and bats (e.g., White-nose syndrome in North American bats) (Jülg et al. 2008; Lorch et al. 2011) and may cause bats to shift roosts and thus further impact population health and viability. Furthermore, the consequences of the alteration in bat biology and ecology caused by unregulated tourism have drastic impacts on populations (Phelps et al. 2016, 2018) and of the provision of their ecosystem services (Sritongchuay et al. 2016). Regulating tourist activities, human-made infrastructure and illumination inside the cave are crucial to sustainably manage caves (Gillieson 2011; Šebela and Turk 2014; Lobo 2015).