{"title":"解决物种困境:为什么提高认识计划在蛇的保护中至关重要","authors":"R. Roshnath","doi":"10.33256/29.4.214218","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Snakes are feared but largely misunderstood by the public. In India, a country with ancient cultures and traditions, snakes were historically worshiped and their habitats were protected as sacred. However, over time these values have shifted to non-conservative approaches, even with people killing snakes on encountering them. This attitudinal change is an indication of knowledge erosion. A closed-ended survey was conducted for 300 randomly selected people in Kerala, India in the age range of 21-55 years to discern their skills in identifying common snake species, and evaluate their attitudes and knowledge about the importance of snakes in the environment. The study showed a lack of knowledge among the responders regarding snakes. Common snakes were not familiar, venomous and non-venomous snakes were mis-classified, and a lack of knowledge about post-bite treatment was observed. Therefore, there is an urgent need for planned conservation education and awareness programmes to build a snake-friendly society. A better understanding of snakes will supplement conservation in the future, and can minimise human-snake conflicts.","PeriodicalId":56131,"journal":{"name":"Herpetological Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2019-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Solving species quandary: why awareness programs are pivotal in snake conservation\",\"authors\":\"R. Roshnath\",\"doi\":\"10.33256/29.4.214218\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Snakes are feared but largely misunderstood by the public. In India, a country with ancient cultures and traditions, snakes were historically worshiped and their habitats were protected as sacred. However, over time these values have shifted to non-conservative approaches, even with people killing snakes on encountering them. This attitudinal change is an indication of knowledge erosion. A closed-ended survey was conducted for 300 randomly selected people in Kerala, India in the age range of 21-55 years to discern their skills in identifying common snake species, and evaluate their attitudes and knowledge about the importance of snakes in the environment. The study showed a lack of knowledge among the responders regarding snakes. Common snakes were not familiar, venomous and non-venomous snakes were mis-classified, and a lack of knowledge about post-bite treatment was observed. Therefore, there is an urgent need for planned conservation education and awareness programmes to build a snake-friendly society. A better understanding of snakes will supplement conservation in the future, and can minimise human-snake conflicts.\",\"PeriodicalId\":56131,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Herpetological Journal\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.1000,\"publicationDate\":\"2019-01-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"3\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Herpetological Journal\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"99\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.33256/29.4.214218\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"生物学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"ZOOLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Herpetological Journal","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.33256/29.4.214218","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ZOOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Solving species quandary: why awareness programs are pivotal in snake conservation
Snakes are feared but largely misunderstood by the public. In India, a country with ancient cultures and traditions, snakes were historically worshiped and their habitats were protected as sacred. However, over time these values have shifted to non-conservative approaches, even with people killing snakes on encountering them. This attitudinal change is an indication of knowledge erosion. A closed-ended survey was conducted for 300 randomly selected people in Kerala, India in the age range of 21-55 years to discern their skills in identifying common snake species, and evaluate their attitudes and knowledge about the importance of snakes in the environment. The study showed a lack of knowledge among the responders regarding snakes. Common snakes were not familiar, venomous and non-venomous snakes were mis-classified, and a lack of knowledge about post-bite treatment was observed. Therefore, there is an urgent need for planned conservation education and awareness programmes to build a snake-friendly society. A better understanding of snakes will supplement conservation in the future, and can minimise human-snake conflicts.