{"title":"Friend or foe, what do the locals say? Attitudes towards the endangered Iberian wolf in Central Portugal","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s10531-024-02819-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>The endangered Iberian wolf (<em>Canis lupus signatus</em>) populations have been decreasing in Portugal due to a combination of factors such as habitat destruction and human persecution. This is particularly worrying in Central Portugal, where packs are highly fragmented, isolated, and with few individuals. Human-Wildlife-Conflicts occur in this area due to high levels of livestock depredation, an outcome of the low diversity and density of wild prey. As a consequence, human persecution is relatively high and is considered a main threat to wolves’ survival. Through studying public attitudes towards these wolf populations and discerning prevalent patterns, insights can be gained to guide management strategies in mitigating these factors. A total of 222 questionnaires were collected from populations inhabiting Central Portugal, divided into three interest groups (general public, livestock owners, and hunters).We estimated <em>Attitude</em>, <em>Fear</em>, and <em>Knowledge Indexes</em> regarding the wolf. Attitudes towards wolves were positive, with the fear being neutral but the knowledge being low; attitudes tend to be more positive with the decrease of fear and the increase of knowledge, and fear tends to decrease with the increase of knowledge. The main factor negatively influencing attitudes was fear, although age seemed to have more influence on livestock owners’ attitudes. The factors influencing fear included gender, knowledge, and personal experience with wolves. These findings can be used to target specific groups with environmental awareness initiatives, aiming to increase knowledge and reduce sources of fear. It is crucial to develop tailored conservation measures considering stakeholders’ viewpoints to effectively protect the Iberian wolf.</p>","PeriodicalId":8843,"journal":{"name":"Biodiversity and Conservation","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biodiversity and Conservation","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-024-02819-8","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The endangered Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) populations have been decreasing in Portugal due to a combination of factors such as habitat destruction and human persecution. This is particularly worrying in Central Portugal, where packs are highly fragmented, isolated, and with few individuals. Human-Wildlife-Conflicts occur in this area due to high levels of livestock depredation, an outcome of the low diversity and density of wild prey. As a consequence, human persecution is relatively high and is considered a main threat to wolves’ survival. Through studying public attitudes towards these wolf populations and discerning prevalent patterns, insights can be gained to guide management strategies in mitigating these factors. A total of 222 questionnaires were collected from populations inhabiting Central Portugal, divided into three interest groups (general public, livestock owners, and hunters).We estimated Attitude, Fear, and Knowledge Indexes regarding the wolf. Attitudes towards wolves were positive, with the fear being neutral but the knowledge being low; attitudes tend to be more positive with the decrease of fear and the increase of knowledge, and fear tends to decrease with the increase of knowledge. The main factor negatively influencing attitudes was fear, although age seemed to have more influence on livestock owners’ attitudes. The factors influencing fear included gender, knowledge, and personal experience with wolves. These findings can be used to target specific groups with environmental awareness initiatives, aiming to increase knowledge and reduce sources of fear. It is crucial to develop tailored conservation measures considering stakeholders’ viewpoints to effectively protect the Iberian wolf.
期刊介绍：
Biodiversity and Conservation is an international journal that publishes articles on all aspects of biological diversity-its description, analysis and conservation, and its controlled rational use by humankind. The scope of Biodiversity and Conservation is wide and multidisciplinary, and embraces all life-forms.
The journal presents research papers, as well as editorials, comments and research notes on biodiversity and conservation, and contributions dealing with the practicalities of conservation management, economic, social and political issues. The journal provides a forum for examining conflicts between sustainable development and human dependence on biodiversity in agriculture, environmental management and biotechnology, and encourages contributions from developing countries to promote broad global perspectives on matters of biodiversity and conservation.
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