Ecotourism promises all of the adventure with none of the guilt. Travelers can see the most beautiful places on Earth, while also getting the feel-good experience of learning more about the world and how to help keep it sustainable.

Right? Wrong.

Despite ecotourism's ever-increasing popularity, its potential negative impact on wildlife and their environment is increasingly clear, according to a new study.

In a study published Friday, life scientists reported on their findings from analyzing more than 100 research studies on how ecotourism affects the wildlife that is so appealing to tourists.

Tourist exposure can be harmful to animals because it can cause changes in their behavior that will put them at risk, researchers found.

"If individuals selectively habituate to humans — particularly tourists — and if invasive tourism practices enhance this habituation, we might be selecting for or creating traits or syndromes that have unintended consequences, such as increased predation risk," the researchers wrote.

"Even a small human-induced perturbation could affect the behavior or population biology of a species."

Humans have a hard time not being "invasive." Even seemingly benign activities — like hikers using approved trails in national parks — can affect animals in the area, leading them to adjust their hunting or migrating patterns.

The researchers found that positive interactions between animals and humans could be just as bad for wildlife as obviously negative ones.

"As animals learn to relax in the presence of humans, they may become bolder in other situations," according to the report. "If this transfers to their interactions with predators, they are more likely to be injured or killed."

Daniel Blumstein, the study's senior author and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA, said he hopes that there will be more research into human and wildlife interactions, so it's understood when tourist exposure puts animals at risk.