Attitudes of Social Media Users Toward Mountain Lions in North America

LaRue, Michelle A.; Nielsen, Clayton K.

doi:10.1002/wsb.1162

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Aware of the commotion surrounding the story of this female jaguar, this article is pioneering the investigation of stakeholder's perceptions toward the jaguar's translocation. More specifically, we assessed the perceptions of a stakeholder that was not directly involved with the conflict nor the translocations, but that have the power to influence conservation efforts by either voicing their views and concerns on social media (Greenspan et al, 2021), or donating money to the organizations involved.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Repercussion of Translocating a Jaguar in Brazil

Martins¹,

Engel²,

Guimarães³

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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The translocation of “problem-animals” is a common non-lethal strategy to deal with human-wildlife conflict. While processes of wildlife translocation have been widely documented, little is known about the social repercussions that take place once the capture and the return of a problem-animal to its natural habitat fail and it has to be permanently placed in captivity. We investigated how the public, an important stakeholder in wildlife conservation, perceived the translocation of a female jaguar to a wildlife captivity center. The objectives were to (1) assess the public's perceptions (e.g., attitudes, emotions, awareness) toward the jaguar and its translocation process, and (2) how these psychological constructs are related. We used the social media profiles of the three institutions involved in the process (one responsible for the jaguar rescues, one that supported its recovery, and the one responsible for the jaguar's final destination) and analyzed the comments left by their followers on posts related to the jaguar and the translocation itself during 25 days. A total of 287 comments were analyzed through coding, a categorizing strategy of qualitative analysis; 33 codes were identified. Results showed high admiration for the work done, positive attitudes and emotions, and concern toward the animal. Lack of awareness about the translocation process was high, with comments of curiosity toward the situation being one of the most commonly found. To a lesser extent, people felt sad for the jaguar not being able to return to the wild and criticized the need for translocation. Admiration for the work had a strong relation with gratitude and broader positive perceptions toward the jaguar's story. Criticism related to concern, which was also related to a need for more information and curiosity. Our findings suggest that the public who engaged with those institutions through their Instagram accounts were grateful for seeing the jaguar safe, but were not aware of the complexity of the operation nor about the nature of the conflict with farmers. The public can either reinforce a particular action or jeopardize an entire operation, depending on their perceptions of the matter. In the case of this jaguar, the public held a positive view; however, we acknowledge the limitations of our sample and recommend further analyses of social repercussions among people who are not followers of these organizations. Furthermore, we recommend engaging other stakeholders to fully understand the human dimensions of translocating this jaguar. Finally, for social acceptance, we highlight the importance of transparency and reliability of the organizations operating the translocation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Repercussion of Translocating a Jaguar in Brazil

Martins¹,

Engel²,

Guimarães³

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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show abstract

“…For one, the safety of pets and other domestic animals (e.g., livestock) is a commonly cited risk associated with wildlife, with an individual's ownership of pets having the potential to decrease tolerance of carnivores (Hudenko et al, 2010;Poessel et al, 2013). However, pet ownership has more often been found to be associated with positive attitudes toward wildlife tolerance and stewardship (Bjerke et al, 2003;Shuttlewood et al, 2016;Greenspan et al, 2021), reflecting people's biophilic dispositions toward both wild and domestic animals (Kellert, 1985;Larson et al, 2023).…”

Section: Sociodemographic Factors In Coexistencementioning

confidence: 99%

Social-ecological drivers of metropolitan residents’ comfort living with wildlife

Haight,

Larson,

Clark

et al. 2023

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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IntroductionHuman-wildlife coexistence in cities depends on how residents perceive and interact with wildlife in their neighborhoods. An individual’s attitudes toward and responses to wildlife are primarily shaped by their subjective cognitive judgments, including multi-faceted environmental values and perceptions of risks or safety. However, experiences with wildlife could also positively or negatively affect an individual’s environmental attitudes, including their comfort living near wildlife. Previous work on human-wildlife coexistence has commonly focused on rural environments and on conflicts with individual problem species, while positive interactions with diverse wildlife communities have been understudied. MethodsGiven this research gap, we surveyed wildlife attitudes of residents across twelve neighborhoods in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, AZ to ask: how do the environments in which residents live, as well as their values, identities, and personal characteristics, explain the degree to which they are comfortable living near different wildlife groups (coyotes, foxes, and rabbits)? ResultsWe found that residents who were more comfortable living near wildlife commonly held pro-wildlife value orientations, reflecting the expectation that attitudes toward wildlife are primarily driven be an individual’s value-based judgements. However, attitudes were further influenced by sociodemographic factors (e.g., pet ownership, gender identity), as well as environmental factors that influence the presence of and familiarity with wildlife. Specifically, residents living closer to desert parks and preserves were more likely to have positive attitudes toward both coyotes and foxes, species generally regarded by residents as riskier to humans and domestic animals. DiscussionBy improving understanding of people’s attitudes toward urban wildlife, these results can help managers effectively evaluate the potential for human-wildlife coexistence through strategies to mitigate risk and facilitate stewardship.

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Media’s portrayal of large predators in Norway from the protection by law in the 1970’s till today: an insight into local and national newspapers

Sponberg

Mathiesen²

2022

GeoJournal

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In the late century of 1800 till mid-1900s, large predators were eradicated worldwide, and bounties were commonly used to get rid of the predators. In the twentieth century the policy changed, and predators became protected by law. The “return” of the predators has resulted in negative human–wildlife interactions and an increase in social conflicts. Media plays a key role in most social conflicts, as positive portrayals can lead to an increased willingness to conserve the species, as opposed to negative portrayals. We have looked at how Norwegian newspapers portray the large predators from when they were protected by law in the 1970’s till today. Our results show that wolves represent the most articles, and the positive mentioning of wolves has decreased, while for bears this has increased. Local newspapers contained more negative portrayals than national newspapers, and changes in wolf establishment, predator management or politics impact on the number of articles. As our findings indicate that negative experiences with predators, in particular in local areas, associate with negative articles in the local newspapers, we believe this could contribute to negative attitudes towards predators among those who are readers of the local newspapers. This is yet to be studied in more detail and would be recommended to better understand the role of media in human–wildlife conflicts.

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Attitudes of Social Media Users Toward Mountain Lions in North America

Cited by 4 publications

References 52 publications

Social Repercussion of Translocating a Jaguar in Brazil

Social Repercussion of Translocating a Jaguar in Brazil

Social-ecological drivers of metropolitan residents’ comfort living with wildlife

Media’s portrayal of large predators in Norway from the protection by law in the 1970’s till today: an insight into local and national newspapers

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