Primate tourism — visiting habituated gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan groups in the wild — has significant benefits for conservation but creates welfare risks for the animals involved.
Wildlife primate tourism welfare depends on protocol adherence: 7-meter distance limits prevent disease transmission; one-hour time limits minimize stress; sick tourists should be excluded. When protocols are violated — tourists approaching closer, extended visits, coughing near animals — disease risk becomes significant. COVID-19 showed that respiratory viruses can cross between humans and great apes with fatal consequences. Welfare-conscious tourism combines rigorous protocol enforcement with genuine revenue benefits to conservation.