Stingray feeding tourism in the Cayman Islands and other sites affects wild stingray behavior and welfare through habituation to human feeding.
Stingrays habituated to tourist feeding show altered social behavior, dietary composition, and hormonal stress profiles compared to wild stingrays. The constant handling and touching by tourists creates chronic stress. The combination of unnatural diet from tourist feeding and suppressed natural foraging behavior represents a welfare compromise for individual animals. Better management including feeding limits and reduced touching would improve welfare.