Predictive potential of wildlife value orientations for acceptability of management interventions

Wildlife value orientations are patterns of basic beliefs that give direction and meaning to fundamental values in the context of wildlife. Wildlife value orientations can help managers estimate public evaluations to management interventions. Their usefulness, both practically and scientifically, depends on their predictive potential. This article examined the predictive value of wildlife value orientations on the acceptability of wildlife management interventions in different situations. The situations varied in (a) severity of the human wildlife problem and (b) severity of the interventions for wildlife. Two wildlife value orientations were measured: domination (human needs have priority over wildlife well-being, 10 items) and mutualism (rights are assigned to wildlife, 9 items). Acceptability was measured as a dichotomous variable for management interventions across 5 different situations. The predictive value of wildlife value orientations was largest for acceptability of the most severe interventions (hunting, 35–42% of variance explained), followed by the least severe interventions (doing nothing, 5–17%) and the intermediate interventions (shaking eggs or applying contraceptives, 1–9%) in the scenarios that include a problem for humans. Value priorities appear to be an integral feature of value orientations. Intermediate interventions do not harm wildlife, but might solve the problem caused by wildlife. Such interventions also create minimal small internal value conflicts. Orientations that prioritize values and offer a template for conflict resolution are likely to have less predictive potential for these interventions.     

More than fear: role of emotions in acceptability of lethal control of wolves

Wolf populations have increased in Western Europe and North America. Lethal control of problem wolves is controversial and support varies among stakeholder groups. Knowing why people support or oppose policies can assist managers in dealing with the public. We examined the influence of emotions toward wolves on the acceptability of lethal wolf control. Two perspectives were used to classify emotions. The discrete perspective distinguishes qualitatively different emotions (e.g., fear, joy). The dimensional perspective differentiates emotions on the basis of valence and arousal. We conducted a survey among Dutch (n?=?369) and Canadian (n?=?208) university students. The independent variables were discrete emotions toward wolves (joy, fear, surprise, anger, disgust, sadness, interest) as well as valence and arousal. The dependent variables were acceptability of lethal control of wolves in three situations that reflect different problem levels (wolves present, wolves kill sheep, wolves kill human). Emotional dispositions toward wolves predicted up to 20 % of the variance of acceptability of lethal control. Disgust in both samples and joy in the Dutch sample were the best predictors. The predictive potential of fear was smaller and confined to two scenarios in the Dutch sample. Discrete emotions predicted acceptability better than valence and arousal. Emotions beyond fear should be considered in wildlife decision-making.     

Reflecting on ethical and legal issues in wildlife disease

Disease in wildlife raises a number of issues that have not been widely considered in the bioethical literature. However, wildlife disease has major implications for human welfare. The majority of emerging human infectious diseases are zoonotic: that is, they occur in humans by cross‐species transmission from animal hosts. Managing these diseases often involves balancing concerns with human health against animal welfare and conservation concerns. Many infectious diseases of domestic animals are shared with wild animals, although it is often unclear whether the infection spills over from wild animals to domestic animals or vice versa. Culling is the standard means of managing such diseases, bringing economic considerations, animal welfare and conservation into conflict. Infectious diseases are also major threatening processes in conservation biology and their appropriate management by culling, vaccination or treatment raises substantial animal ethics issues. One particular issue of great significance in Australia is an ongoing research program to develop genetically modified pathogens to control vertebrate pests including rabbits, foxes and house mice. Release of any self‐replicating GMO vertebrate pathogen gives rise to a whole series of ethical questions. We briefly review current Australian legal responses to these problems. Finally, we present two unresolved problems of general importance that are exemplified by wildlife disease. First, to what extent can or should ‘bioethics’ be broadened beyond direct concerns with human welfare to animal welfare and environmental welfare? Second, how should the irreducible uncertainty of ecological systems be accounted for in ethical decision making?     

Wildlife harvesting guidelines for community-based wildlife management: a southern African perspective

African wildlife populations and their habitats are dwindling outside ofstate-protected areas due to escalating human demands on natural resources,while the effective enforcement of conservation legislation is impracticableacross most of the continent. A particular conservation crisis is looming insouthern Africa, where extensive wildlife areas are rapidly giving way tosubsistence agropastoralism. The concept of community-based wildlife management(CBWM) has been embraced by donor agencies as a hopeful solution in areas whereadequate wildlife resources persist and agricultural potential is marginal. Theconservation value of CBWM depends, however, on communities having specificinformation to evaluate the sustainable benefits of wildlife in comparison withalternative landuse options. Furthermore, simple but scientifically soundmonitoring procedures are required to ensure that the offtake from wildlifepopulations is kept within sustainable limits. This paper draws together keyecological issues of relevance to CBWM in southern African savannas andidentifies topics requiring further attention from ecologists. The aim is toassist conservation and development agencies in providing prompt and appropriatetechnical support to communities in areas where opportunities for CBWM stillexist but could soon be foreclosed.     

Are wildlife value orientations useful tools to explain tolerance and illegal killing of wildlife by farmers in response to crop damage?

Understanding human-wildlife conflicts and monitoring their consequences, such as wildlife persecution, is crucial for biological conservation. Although most theoretical models suggest that the influence of value orientations on behavior is mediated by higher order constructs such as attitudes and norms, wildlife value orientations are widely used to assess human-wildlife relationships and to predict human behavior towards wildlife. We have no evidence of studies which have measured them in Mediterranean countries, where the highest biodiversity level in temperate Western countries is present. In spring 2016, we administered a questionnaire to local farmers in Central Italy to measure the association between wildlife value orientations and illegal killing of wildlife, in response to crop or poultry damages (n = 352). We obtained the prevalence of illegal killing with the Randomized Response Technique, ensuring complete individual protection to respondents. We modeled the effect of wildlife value orientations over illegal wildlife killing with a Bayesian logistic regression for three taxa: the red fox, the crested porcupine, and birds, as most of persecution by farmers in our study site is exerted towards them. We found that domination predicted illegal killing for the red fox only. On the other hand, mutualism predicted tolerance towards all the study taxa. Combining wildlife value orientations and the Randomized Response Technique can be a promising approach to explore human-wildlife conflicts and their consequences. Furthermore, the Mediterranean setting of our study filled existing geographical gaps about wildlife value orientations in Europe. We encourage future research on the application of wildlife value orientations to conflicts involving wildlife and extensive farmers, i.e., at large scale, as well as future large-scale research on wildlife value orientations in Europe.     

Wildlife value orientations as predicting factors in support of reintroducing bison and of wolves migrating to Germany

In the light of the worldwide biodiversity convention, the return of the wolf and the planned reintroduction of the European bison to Germany are seen as success stories in efforts to protect biological diversity. Prerequisite to the successful long-term reintroduction of wild animals is the support and approval of the return of animal populations by the general public. To better understand opinions towards wildlife and wildlife management, which often underlie controversies, the influence of wildlife related value orientations has been the focus of empirical research in recent years. In the current study, we examined wildlife value orientations in a sample of German students (n = 364) majoring in three different university subjects: agriculture; landscape ecology/nature conservation; and, social sciences. Analysis showed internal consistencies among the items comprising the wildlife value orientation scale. As theoretically expected, results of multiple regression analysis revealed wildlife value orientations have great impact on a decision to support the return of wolves and bison to Germany. In conclusion, the instrument, developed in the US, turned out to be reliable and had predictive value for the use in Germany. Also, we found differences in wildlife value orientation in relation to the factors of gender and academic background. A value orientation that focuses on mutualism was usually subjected to gender and academic major interaction effects. Males and females within and between student groups placed different weight on wildlife value orientations, possibly generating a potential for conflicts relating to wildlife management decisions, such as the reintroduction of bison or the support of wolves’ return.     

Parasites, emerging disease and wildlife conservation

In this review some emerging issues of parasite infections in wildlife, particularly in Australia, are considered. We discuss the importance of understanding parasite biodiversity in wildlife in terms of conservation, the role of wildlife as reservoirs of parasite infection, and the role of parasites within the broader context of the ecosystem. Using a number of parasite species, the value of undertaking longitudinal surveillance in natural systems using non-invasive sampling and molecular tools to characterise infectious agents is illustrated in terms of wildlife health, parasite biodiversity and ecology.     

Investigating wildlife and grazing perspectives of Kenyan university students

Recent conservation efforts recognize that human needs cannot be ignored. One way to understand the social components of resource management is to evaluate stakeholder perspectives. Stakeholder perspectives are an important component of developing effective natural resource management plans, specifically in the developing world. However, most stakeholder research in Africa focuses on local communities in locales adjacent to protected areas. This research expands the stakeholder population by looking at university students’ perspectives regarding the Maasai Mara region of Kenya in relation to two complex and high profile issues: wildlife and grazing. Increased understanding of these topics in a diverse and urbanizing nation like Kenya can lead to better outcomes for conservation efforts. Using Photovoice, a qualitative research method, participants shared their perspective and built upon others’ ideas about wildlife and grazing. Results suggest that there was a wide array of perspective regarding wildlife and grazing. Economics played a large part in both wildlife and grazing perspectives. However, there was also concern for the aesthetic and cultural value of wildlife and grazing in Kenya, which is contrary to some previous findings. Due to the varying perspective and multiple stakeholder groups, research should continue to explore the social aspects of natural resource management regarding wildlife and grazing in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya.     

A meta‐analysis of human disturbance impacts on Antarctic wildlife

Evidence‐based assessments are increasingly recognized as the best‐practice approach to determine appropriate conservation interventions, but such assessments of the impact of human disturbance on wildlife are rare. Human disturbance comprises anthropogenic activities that are typically non‐lethal, but may cause short‐ and/or longer‐term stress and fitness responses in wildlife. Expanding human activity in the Antarctic region is of particular concern because it increases the scope and potential for increased human disturbance to wildlife in a region that is often thought of as relatively untouched by anthropogenic influences. Here, we use a meta‐analytical approach to synthesise research on human disturbance to wildlife over the last three decades in the Antarctic and sub‐Antarctic region. We combine data from 62 studies across 21 species on the behavioural, physiological and population responses of wildlife to pedestrian, vehicle and research disturbances. The overall effect size indicated a small, albeit statistically significant negative effect of disturbance (?0.39; 95% CI: ?0.60 to ?0.18). Negative effects were found for both physiological and population responses, but no evidence was found for a significant impact on wildlife behavioural responses. Negative effects were found across pedestrian, vehicle and research disturbances. Significant and high among‐study heterogeneity was found in both disturbance and response sub‐groups. Among species, it remains unclear to what extent different forms of disturbance translate into negative population responses. Most current guidelines to limit wildlife disturbance impacts in Antarctica recommend that approaches be tailored to animal behavioural cues, but our work demonstrates that behavioural changes do not necessarily reflect more cryptic, and more deleterious impacts, such as changes in physiology. In consequence, we recommend that pedestrian approach guidelines in the Antarctic region be revisited. Due to the high heterogeneity in effects, management guidelines for different sites and species will need to be developed on a case‐by‐case basis, ideally in conjunction with carefully designed experiments. Guidelines to reduce the impact of research activities per se require development to reduce the potential impacts of conducting research. We identify research questions that, if answered, will further improve the evidence base for guidelines to manage human disturbance in Antarctica.     

人与野生动物共存研究进展

人类和野生动物生存空间高度重叠,冲突不可避免,如何从冲突走向共存是学术研究的热点和难点。研究评述了人与野生动物共存的概念解析、量化评估、影响因素以及实现机制四方面的进展,发现人与野生动物共存的概念定义和量化评估还存在争议。大多研究认为共存并不意味着没有冲突,而是不可避免的冲突被控制在可容忍范围内。研究多采用容忍度、接受度、保护态度和行为等变量对人与野生动物共存状态进行量化。野生动物相关的成本效益是影响人与野生动物共存的关键因素。经济和教育手段是实现共存的重要路径。经济手段包括补偿、保险、生态旅游、保护投资等措施,通过增加野生动物保护效益、减少保护成本可以实现共存。教育手段通过提升社区保护意识和野生动物保护效益感知、增强冲突应对能力实现人与野生动物共存。未来研究可以从生态和生计视角构建主客观相结合的指标体系对人与野生动物共存进行量化;基于社会生态系统框架识别影响人与野生动物共存的关键因素,总结实现共存的成功经验;采用实验经济学方法探索适用于本土的多样化共存干预措施组合。     

A stakeholder perspective into wildlife policy in India

We investigated perceptions of wildlife policy and issues through questionnaires (n = 148) administered to policy makers, conservation scientists, individuals representing non-government organizations (NGOs), and field officials, who implemented government policies and enforced laws. We found significant differences among attitudes of stakeholders identifying major threats to wildlife, the use of science, the role of poaching in conservation, and the composition of species illegally traded. Policy makers and field officials differed in their views with NGOs and scientists on community response to wildlife policies and the varying threat perceptions to different species due to poaching and illegal trade. We noted ambiguity among stakeholders about sustainable use principles in India. Policies must be more effective in conservation and the process of making policy must be broad-based and participatory if wildlife conservation is to advance on the subcontinent. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

Opportunistic research and sampling combined with fisheries and wildlife management actions or crisis response

Currently most of the activities of state, federal, first nation, and private conservation agencies, including management of and field research on free-ranging wildlife, are not regulated under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and thus not subject to National Institutes of Health guidelines or routine institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) review. However, every day thousands of fish and wildlife management activities occur across North America that provide an opportunity to take observations, measurements, biological specimens, or samples that may have research value. Most of these opportunities are secondary to ongoing and often mandated wildlife management or conservation actions. Strange as it may seem to the academic and research community, the full research potentials of these opportunities are rarely utilized. IACUCs and research institutions should strive to facilitate such research, which by its very nature is often more opportunistic than designed. They can do this by ensuring that their policies do not unnecessarily impede the rapid research responses needed, or over burden researchers with inappropriate reporting requirements designed for laboratory research. The most prominent reasons for failures to utilize wildlife research opportunities include lack of the following: personnel and expertise to collect and use the information; preparation for inevitable (or predictable) events (e.g., oil spills); resources to preserve and curate specimens; a mandate to conduct research; and recognition of the value in data or sample collection. IACUC support of open protocols and generic sampling plans can go a long way toward improving the development of useful knowledge from animals that will otherwise be lost. Opportunities to sample wildlife are categorized generally as dead sampling (road kill surveys, harvest sampling, lethal collection, and "die-offs"); live sampling (handling for marking, relocation or restocking; and captures for field or biological studies); and crisis response (e.g., population salvage operations or oil spills). Examples of the many unique situations in each category serve to illustrate how valuable research and sampling can be accomplished opportunistically. Several unique limitations of sample collection situation are described. It is recommended that IACUCs have mechanisms in place to facilitate good research in all of these circumstances.     

The behavioural immune system and the psychology of human sociality

Because immunological defence against pathogens is costly and merely reactive, human anti-pathogen defence is also characterized by proactive behavioural mechanisms that inhibit contact with pathogens in the first place. This behavioural immune system comprises psychological processes that infer infection risk from perceptual cues, and that respond to these perceptual cues through the activation of aversive emotions, cognitions and behavioural impulses. These processes are engaged flexibly, producing context-contingent variation in the nature and magnitude of aversive responses. These processes have important implications for human social cognition and social behaviour-including implications for social gregariousness, person perception, intergroup prejudice, mate preferences, sexual behaviour and conformity. Empirical evidence bearing on these many implications is reviewed and discussed. This review also identifies important directions for future research on the human behavioural immune system--including the need for enquiry into underlying mechanisms, additional behavioural consequences and implications for human health and well-being.     

人与大型兽类的冲突: 野生动物保护所面临的新挑战

人和大型兽类的冲突已经成为人们日益关注的问题。野生动物损害庄稼,捕食家畜,甚至危及到人身安全。人兽冲突增加了野生兽类保护工作的困难。目前,导致人兽冲突比较典型的物种包括野生非洲象和野生亚洲象、绝大多数食肉动物和鹿类等等。引发人和大型兽类冲突的具体原因包括人口增长、野生动物栖息地丧失、土地利用方式的改变以及实施保护后野生动物种群的恢复,多数情况是多种因素共同作用的结果。减少人和大型兽类的冲突应从两方面着手:加强野生兽类管理,利用各种方法减缓损失;另一方面,关注当地社区,在提高当地人的保护意识的同时也要提高当地的经济水平。     

三江源国家公园野生动物保护与管理对策

三江源国家公园是我国首批建立的面积最大的国家公园,也是青藏高原第一个国家公园,对青藏高原乃至我国加快构建以国家公园为主体的自然保护地体系具有里程碑式意义。三江源国家公园野生动物多样性水平高且濒危物种占比大,其中兽类和鸟类受威胁比例分别为32.26%和19.90%;具有丰富的国家重点保护物种及青藏高原特有珍稀物种,包括46.77%的中国或青藏高原特有兽类和7.65%的中国特有鸟类,其生物多样性具有全国乃至全球意义的保护价值。本文简要回顾全球野生动物保护研究重要进展和取得的成果,分析三江源野生动物濒危成因,提出了加强三江源国家公园野生动物动态监测、创新栖息地保护技术、建立野生动物迁移廊道及避难所、开展草畜平衡管理、疫源疫病控制、人兽冲突研究和建立野生动物基因资源库等多项野生动物保护和管理对策,为实现三江源国家公园生态环境严格保护、人与自然和谐共生、区域可持续发展战略提供了有益的参考。     

Wildlife value orientations and demographics in The Netherlands

This article identified the Dutch publics’ value orientations toward wildlife and examined differences in value orientations among four demographic characteristics: age, sex, current residence, and education. The two wildlife value orientations—domination and mutualism—were based on prior theorizing and research in the USA. People with a domination value orientation believe wildlife should be managed for human benefit and are more likely to prioritize human well-being over wildlife in their attitudes and behaviors. Individuals with a mutualism orientation view wildlife as part of an extended family, deserving of rights and care. Data were obtained from a mailed survey (n = 353) sent to randomly selected individuals in the Dutch population. K-means cluster analysis was used to segment respondents into three groups based on their responses to the 19 items used to measure their wildlife value orientations. As predicted by the literature, those with a domination wildlife value orientation were statistically older (M = 55.2) than mutualism oriented individuals (M = 51.5). Females (61%) and those living in an urban area (48%) tended to be more mutualism-oriented. There were no significant differences among the clusters in education level. Overall, this article provides information about wildlife value orientations and public demographic characteristics that can help wildlife managers to (1) understand the diversity of value orientations that exist and (2) gauge support for or opposition to management policies.     

Forecasting suitable areas for wind turbine occurrence to proactively improve wildlife conservation

The United States is rapidly expanding production of renewable energy to meet increased energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Wind energy is at the forefront of this transition. A central challenge is understanding the nexus between wind energy development and its capacity for negative effects on wildlife causing population declines and habitat loss. Collaboration among conservationists and developers, early in the planning process, is crucial for minimizing wind-wildlife conflicts. Such collaborations require data showing where wind and wildlife impacts occur. To meet this challenge and inform decision-making, we provide natural resource agencies and stakeholders information regarding where future wind turbines may occur, and the potential affects on natural resource management, including the conservation of priority species and their habitats. We developed a machine learning model predicting suitability of wind turbine occurrence (hereafter, wind turbine suitability) across an eight-state region in the United States, representing some of the richest areas of wind potential. Our model incorporates predictor variables related to infrastructure, land ownership, meteorology, and topography. We additionally created a constraint layer indicating areas where wind would likely not be developed because of zoning, protected lands, and restricted federal agency proximity guidelines. We demonstrate how the predictive wind turbine suitability model informs conservation planning by incorporating animal movement models, relative abundance models coupled with spatial conservation planning software, and population density models for three exemplar, high priority species often affected by wind energy: whooping cranes (Grus americana), golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), and lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus). By merging the wind turbine and biological models, we identified conservation priority areas (i.e., places sharing high suitability for wind turbines and species use), and places where wind expansion could minimally affect these species. We use our “species-wind turbine occurrence relationships” to demonstrate applications, illustrating how forecasting areas of wind turbine suitability promotes wildlife conservation. These relationships inform wind energy siting to reduce negative ecological impacts while promoting environmental and economic viability.     

Conflicts between humans over wildlife management: on the diversity of stakeholder attitudes and implications for conflict management

Conflicts involving wildlife are, in essence, often conflicts between human parties with differing wildlife management objectives. However, the study and management of wildlife conflicts often focuses on the ecological context without addressing disagreements between people over these objectives. This research uses quantitative approaches to examine actors’ views on a complex wildlife-related conflict: a raptor of conservation concern that impacts on game-bird management. Four dominant elements of the debate emerged from initial semi-structured interviews: perceptions of conflict related issues; perceptions of each other; perceived barriers to consensus within the debate; and assessment of proposed practical management solutions. A quantitative survey that built on these elements demonstrates the degree to which perceptions differ between groups and how local variation in these elements may be obscured in a regional or national level debate. The findings emphasise the importance of understanding the social issues involved in wildlife related conflicts if management aims are to be agreed and achieved.     

人与野生动物冲突研究现状及经验启示

人与野生动物冲突是人与自然耦合系统不可避免的负向产物,对冲突的治理是实现保护与发展协调的重要路径。国内外学者对此展开了大量的研究。本文从冲突生成、影响、成本和治理四个方面对现有研究进行梳理,结果表明人与野生动物冲突对保护与发展都造成负面影响,包括社区直接经济损失、人身安全受威胁、福祉降低以及野生动物被伤害、栖息地被挤占。现有研究还存在缺乏跨学科系统研究框架、忽视冲突隐性成本以及对冲突影响研究不深入等不足,未来在科学测度冲突成本、从生态和社会经济视角对冲突影响进行评估以及冲突治理措施多元化方面研究需要深入。在此基础上,从建立中央政府为主、地方政府为辅的野生动物冲突补偿专项基金;政府为主导,企业、社区、国际组织和高校多方利益群体参与机制;人与野生动物冲突分区管理制度;冲突损失核算和申报管理系统;多元化冲突治理模式;冲突减缓土地利用规划体系方面提出现有研究对治理我国人与野生动物冲突的启示。     

Human-induced fear in wildlife: A review

Humans, like natural predators, can induce fear in wildlife, which has the potential to alter species-level survival and fitness. Though anthropogenic impacts on wildlife have been studied in detail, how wildlife respond behaviorally to human presence has been less studied. Here, we provide a literature review on how humans interact with wildlife populations through the ecology of fear framework. Fear responses can be proactive or reactive, and can go beyond behavioral changes to alterations in physiology (such as increases in stress) or alterations in individual chromosome structure. Wildlife are more likely to flee from humans if they possess a larger body size, are female, or have fear-associated genotypes. Intelligence and individual differences lead to variations in wildlife’s fear responses to humans that can make studying fear difficult. Wildlife fear responses to humans depend on environmental factors, including context-specific human presentation and whether the animal was in urban or rural habitats. Human-induced fear in wildlife may have cascading impacts on broader wildlife communities and habitat structure caused by changes in how individual species interact with other species and the environment.