The business of sustainable travel is booming. in the process.

But while ecotourism may appear to be a green revolution in travel, new research indicates that the practice may be doing serious harm to the wildlife it aims to protect.

claims that ecotourism is not only changing the way some animals behave in the wild, but making them more vulnerable to predators, too. The study looked at over 100 other research studies of how ecotourism affects animals.

A tourist rides a camel at the Giza pyramids, on the southern outskirts of Cairo.

(MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

“When animals interact in seemingly benign ways with humans, they may let down their guard,” UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability Professor Daniel Blumstein said in a release.

That very problem was observed in Elk and pronghorn sheep in Grand Teton National Park. According to The Los Angeles Times, . The animals were also seen gathering in smaller groups than usual when observers were nearby.

, who let humans get seven times closer to them before retreating than their rural counterparts did.

Researchers worry that ecotourism will have an effect on wild animals similar to domestication.

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“[Studies show] that domesticated silver foxes become more docile and less fearful, a process that results from evolutionary changes [and] from regular interactions with humans,” Blumstein said in a release.

Scientists hope their findings will lead to more in depth studies on the effects of human interaction with wild animals and how the tourism industry can adapt.

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