Feral animals as a tourism attraction: characterizing tourists' experiences with rabbits on Ōkunoshima Island in Hiroshima, Japan

This study’s aim is to elucidate what tourists’ encounter with feral animals entail—an infrequently studied concept in the literature—by building on the discussion of authenticity in wildlife tourism experiences using the case of feral rabbits. Netnography was used to examine tourists’ comments and photos in 386 TripAdvisor reviews written in Japanese and English about Ōkunoshima Island in Hiroshima, Japan. The findings indicate that the space where tourist and feral rabbit interactions occur can be compared to a ‘natural petting zoo’ and a theme park, where tourists’ seek entertainment rather than authentic experiences. Even uncontrolled, chaotic wildness—the characteristic of feral animals—was consumed by tourists who found it entertaining. Unmediated interactions allowed tourists to be fully in charge of interactions with the rabbits especially through feeding. Their encounters with the rabbits especially left tourists in Japanese reviews with feeling of healing. Widely adopted conservation-based wildlife tourism frameworks are inadequate for managing tourist–feral rabbit encounters because if they were adapted, the rabbits would be eradicated. Therefore, a policy for Ōkunoshima Island that balances the needs of tourists, rabbits, and the surrounding environment is needed.