Public attitudes towards brown bears ( Ursus arctos) in Slovenia (original) (raw)
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Dynamics of public attitudes toward bears and the role of bear hunting in Croatia
Biological Conservation, 2011
Successful carnivore conservation depends on public attitudes and acceptance levels of carnivores, and these are likely to change as circumstances change. Attitude studies repeated in time that can demonstrate such change are rare. Our study surveyed Croatian rural inhabitants in 2002 and in 2008 and analyzed their responses to detect a change in attitudes toward brown bears (Ursus arctos) over time. Important developments occurring in Croatia at the time of our research included a more centralized and more clearly defined bear management strategy, and an increase in the bear population. We constructed models to explain respondent's value orientations, their level of perceived threat and their acceptance capacity for bears. Findings show that while value orientations and the overall level of perceived threat did not change over time, bear acceptance capacity was reduced. This suggests that the increase in the bear population and perhaps the more centralized bear management reduced respondents' willingness to accept a larger bear population. We conclude that continuous public involvement in bear management is essential in order to maintain a feeling of control over the bear among the local population. Furthermore we argue that hunting is an important form of public involvement in the region, serving to reinforce existence and bequest values of the bear and increase its public acceptance.
Spatial variation in public attitudes towards brown bears in the French Pyrenees
Human dimension is an important component of large carnivore management and conservation. Here, we focus on the human-wildlife conflict related to depredation of livestock by Pyrenean brown bears (Ursus arctos), despite the population being among the smallest in the world. Two reintroductions were performed in the past to ensure the survival of the population, yet its conservation status remains critical due to small size, heavy inbreeding and disagreements over its management. We investigated the often-neglected spatial variations in attitude towards predator presence to improve our understanding of the human dimensions surrounding this conflict. We used a questionnaire to assess the drivers explaining the attitude of the local human population (n = 577) of the Pyrenees towards bear presence. Our results show that spatial variables (place of birth and county of residence of the respondent) are strong predictors of attitude. The residents of two counties in particular (Haute-Garonne and Pyrénées-Atlantiques) displayed a positive attitude, while the residents of the Hautes-Pyrénées county had the most negative attitude. People born outside of the Pyrenees also showed a more positive inclination towards bear presence than people born and raised in France's southwestern mountain range. Both these results may imply a link between the history of local communities with predator presence and their current attitude. Accounting for small-scale spatial heterogeneity in social–ecological studies of human-wildlife conflicts will prove useful to get a more accurate mapping of attitudes and inform subsequent management decisions.
Attitudes toward brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Sweden
2008
The Swedish brown bear population has grown from very few animals to at least 2500 individuals in about 80 years time, with a rather constant growth of 1.5 % per year. I wanted to see what the attitudes towards bears are like in Sweden now when the bears expand their habitats closer to urban areas and it is getting more common to encounter bears or tracks from bears in nature. A national mail survey was made in 2004, when no human deaths related to bears had occurred for 102 years, and data was analysed from that survey. I show that most Swedes hold positive attitudes toward bears, despite almost half of the respondents being afraid of encounters with bears. Urbanites are the ones with the most positive attitudes, but also the ones who fear bears the most. When compared to studies from other European countries Swedes are less positive towards bears than people from southern Europe. A large portion of the variation in why people hold their attitudes toward bears remains unexplained, which is most likely due to this survey being designed with previous experiences from wolves in mind and attitudes toward bears are not formed on the same grounds. My conclusion was that future surveys need to focus on examining other aspects to how attitudes toward bears are formed in order to gain a full understanding of this.
Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences.
A survey was carried out to determine the attitudes of the general public and of hunters towards wolves (Canis lupus) in Latvia. Today wildlife conservation depends on effective management practices; however, these are often influenced by public opinions and attitudes. Our aim was to understand the causes behind these attitudes and to compare our results with previous research done in Latvia. Questionnaires were distributed through schools and hunter organisations. The attitudes of both the general public and hunters were mostly neutral or positive. Older people and women were generally less positive. Respondents with less positive attitudes were more likely to say that wolf numbers in the country should be decreased. Significant associations between attitudes, beliefs of wolves causing damage and financial losses and what should be done with wolf numbers in Latvia were found. Three attitude predictors were established.
Coexistence with Bears in Romania: A Local Community Perspective
Sustainability, 2019
In the modern context of the strict protection of large carnivores, the competition for resources between local community dwellers and these animals has become an important challenge for ensuring coexistence-the key for conservation success. To assess the perceptions of this intricate relationship, six local communities from Central Romania, located in areas with high-density brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) population and frequent conflicts, were investigated. A large proportion of the respondents (69%) showed various forms of intolerance (e.g., relocation, punishment, or killing) towards aggressive bears. However, the cognitive evaluation score derived from the level of interaction with bears showed a non-significant (p = 0.470) segregation by tolerance levels, suggesting that not only the tangible costs (direct damage) but rather the psychological costs of fear, danger, or risk are more important drivers of negative attitudes towards bears. Furthermore, the prevalent experienced emotions towards an inoffensive bear (fear, terror, and hate, which represent 73%) underline the general preference for living in "separate worlds". This requires that bears should avoid humans and their settlements, a goal unlikely to be achieved under the current strict protection regime. Therefore, an alternative strategy that ensures mutual avoidance of the two players may be more appropriate for successful human-bear coexistence.
Conservation and Society, 2011
From a conservation point of view, Macedonia's brown bear (Ursus arctos) population appears to be a key link in the distribution of one of Europe's largest brown bear populations, the Dinaric-Pindos population. The lack of information concerning the bear population in the Republic of Macedonia and bear acceptance by local people inspired us to explore local knowledge and perceptions concerning bears that could be relevant for their conservation. Accordingly, we adopted a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews to determine how the specifi c behaviour and ecology of bears can infl uence, through interactions, local peoples' knowledge and perceptions. Our results show that due to numerous interactions, the informants' knowledge appeared to be detailed and consistent, both internally and with existing scientifi c literature about bears. Bear specifi c behaviour allows them to be located, individualised and thus appropriated by villagers, and also to be identifi ed as an alter-ego. For the villagers, the occasional harmfulness of a bear is not the result of a general characteristic of bears in general, but of some individual bear's behaviour. Finally, bears enjoy a relatively good image as long as local people can react against individuals that cause damage. However, direct or indirect poaching of bears is still a main concern for the Macedonian brown bear's conservation.
Changes in attitudes toward wolves in Croatia
Biological Conservation, 2010
Against a background of an evolving wolf policy process we carried out personal structured interviews with residents of three regions within Croatian wolf range in 1999 (n = 1209) and repeated the study, using the same methodology in 2003 (n = 1172). We documented a change in public support for wolf conservation and support for control of wolves. The change was a result of a real change in attitudes and not of a change in the age structure of the sampled population. The changes were documented in the two southern regions, Lika and Dalmatia, with attitudes shifting towards a more neutral viewpoint, as there was a decrease in support for wolf conservation and a decrease in support to control wolves. It seems that different birth cohorts react differently to conservation activities. In 1999, the younger cohort groups may have been influenced more by the legal protection campaign. The older cohorts reacted more sympathetically to livestock concerns and thus held stronger negative attitudes toward wolves. Using human dimensions research as an evaluative tool can help large carnivore managers be more adaptive and thus effective in their management solutions.
Sustainability
The acceptance of large carnivores is one of the key issues for their conservation. We analyzed the level acceptance of brown bears (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758) amongst 10–18 year old school students in four European countries using anonymous questionnaires. Our aim was to characterize the drivers of species acceptance, described as a rural–urban cline, as well as fear levels and the respondents’ familiarity with bears. We found lower levels of acceptance of bears were related to fear of bears and that bear acceptance was not higher in the bear-inhabited countries, but urban inhabitants tended to better accept the species. Factor analysis revealed the importance of country-related aspects, familiarity with bears, experiences in human-wildlife conflict, gender-age differences, respondent’s relationship to nature and the origin of their knowledge of the species. We consider that bear-related education and mass media in Latvia and Lithuania could reduce fear of these animals and susta...
Status, management and distribution of large carnivores–bear, lynx, wolf & wolverine–in Europe
neighboring countries can have different criteria and time periods for the definition of cells with permanent and sporadic presences] 2. Population estimates & monitoring Proper monitoring and research on brown bears in Albania have been largely lacking in the past, thus information on their numbers is mostly based on expert estimations. In the past 6 years more solid data on bear presence has been collected, mainly through the work of various projects undertaken by non-profit organizations. Recent camera-trapping surveys, tracking and sign identification as well as questionnaire surveys have generated a good amount of knowledge on the status of brown bears in the country (Trajçe et. al. 2008; Ivanov et. al. 2008; Keçi et. al. 2008; Trajçe & Hoxha 2011). Currently, experts estimate that some 180-200 bears might be roaming the mountains of Albania. There is however a clear discrepancy between the official information given by state authorities and experts' evaluations in regard to the bear population size. The latest official estimation of the bear population in Albania is presented at the Annual Report on the State of Environment for 2009 as consisting of 686 individuals (MoE, 2010). There is however no detail given on the rationale behind this assessment and according to experts' opinion and field evidence so far, this is a gross overestimation. 3. Legal status & relevant management agencies The brown bear is classified as Vulnerable (VU) according to the Red List of Albania (Red List of Flora & Fauna, 2007) and enjoys a full legal protection status sanctioned by the new Law on Wildlife Protection (2008) and Law on Hunting (2010). The species has been considered as fully protected at least since 1956 as it is sanctioned on the respective governmental decrees at the time. In the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (Bego et al. 1999) the brown bear is selected as a priority species and the development of an action plan for its conservation is recommended as an immediate action to take. In 2007 an action plan was compiled (Bego 2007) and adopted by the Ministry of Environment, however no concrete action has been seen so far in accordance to the document. The institution responsible for brown bear management is the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Water Administration. 4. Population goal and population level cooperation There are no explicit population goals for brown bears in Albania. Information on the population trend is lacking, however increased incidences of poaching, habitat degradation and general human encroachment, indicate that the bear population has been facing a dramatic decrease in the past decades and is nowadays at an all time low. Population level cooperation for conservation is good among researchers and non-governmental institutions of the range countries. Unfortunately, up to date, on the GO level there has not been any major initiative of cooperation in regard to brown bear conservation and management. 5. Conflicts and conflict management The wildlife baseline survey conducted by PPNEA in 2006-07 gives primary insights on the conflicts existing between humans and brown bears in Albania. Human-brown bear conflicts seem to be widespread in the country and bears were reported to cause significant damage on crops, fruit trees, and big livestock and to a lesser extent on beehives (Trajce et. al. 2008, Keci et. al. 2008). Humanbrown bear conflicts are believed to explain to a certain extent the reasons for illegal killing of brown bears. However, a human dimension study recently conducted by PPNEA to determine public attitudes of the rural population towards large carnivores reveals that the general public opinion Permanent: 66 Sporadic: 66 Range trend unknown Depredation costs / year unknown-not estimated Number of cases / year unknown 3 Most important threats illegal killing, habitat destruction, illegal capturing and exhibiting References:
Management of Brown Bears (Ursus arctos) in Europe
1997
with public acceptance of damages caused by bears. Recent increases in sheep depredation and beehive damage in central Austria resulted in the deaths of two bears there. Since bear numbers are low in most European populations, alternatives to the elimination of problem bears associated with damage incidents must be sought. The events described above led to the formation of the Bear Management Group responsible for designing a management plan for Austria that will outline procedures for dealing with bear damage and conservation strategies.