Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia
Abstract The remnant population of Balkan lynx Lynx lynx martinoi is small, isolated and highly threatened. Since 2006 a conservation project has surveyed its status and promoted its recovery in Albania and Macedonia. Eurasian lynx are often associated with conflicts of an economic or social nature,...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0030605310001547 2024-09-15T18:41:44+00:00 Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia Lescureux, Nicolas Linnell, John D. C. Mustafa, Sabit Melovski, Dime Stojanov, Aleksandar Ivanov, Gjorge Avukatov, Vasko von Arx, Manuela Breitenmoser, Urs 2011 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605310001547 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0030605310001547 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Oryx volume 45, issue 4, page 600-607 ISSN 0030-6053 1365-3008 journal-article 2011 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605310001547 2024-09-04T04:04:25Z Abstract The remnant population of Balkan lynx Lynx lynx martinoi is small, isolated and highly threatened. Since 2006 a conservation project has surveyed its status and promoted its recovery in Albania and Macedonia. Eurasian lynx are often associated with conflicts of an economic or social nature, and their conservation requires a focus on the people sharing the landscape with the species. In this study we adopt methods and conceptual frameworks from anthropology to explore the local knowledge and perceptions of lynx among rural hunters and livestock breeders in the western mountains of the Republic of Macedonia in south-east Europe. The main finding was that local people rarely saw or interacted with lynx. As the level of interactions with this species is very low, the lynx doesn’t appear to be a species associated with conflicts in Macedonia. There was also a general lack of both scientific and local knowledge, which has led to somewhat negative attitudes, mainly based on myths and rumours. Poaching of lynx and their prey seem to be the main barriers to lynx conservation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Lynx Lynx lynx lynx Cambridge University Press Oryx 45 4 600 607 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The remnant population of Balkan lynx Lynx lynx martinoi is small, isolated and highly threatened. Since 2006 a conservation project has surveyed its status and promoted its recovery in Albania and Macedonia. Eurasian lynx are often associated with conflicts of an economic or social nature, and their conservation requires a focus on the people sharing the landscape with the species. In this study we adopt methods and conceptual frameworks from anthropology to explore the local knowledge and perceptions of lynx among rural hunters and livestock breeders in the western mountains of the Republic of Macedonia in south-east Europe. The main finding was that local people rarely saw or interacted with lynx. As the level of interactions with this species is very low, the lynx doesn’t appear to be a species associated with conflicts in Macedonia. There was also a general lack of both scientific and local knowledge, which has led to somewhat negative attitudes, mainly based on myths and rumours. Poaching of lynx and their prey seem to be the main barriers to lynx conservation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lescureux, Nicolas Linnell, John D. C. Mustafa, Sabit Melovski, Dime Stojanov, Aleksandar Ivanov, Gjorge Avukatov, Vasko von Arx, Manuela Breitenmoser, Urs |
spellingShingle |
Lescureux, Nicolas Linnell, John D. C. Mustafa, Sabit Melovski, Dime Stojanov, Aleksandar Ivanov, Gjorge Avukatov, Vasko von Arx, Manuela Breitenmoser, Urs Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia |
author_facet |
Lescureux, Nicolas Linnell, John D. C. Mustafa, Sabit Melovski, Dime Stojanov, Aleksandar Ivanov, Gjorge Avukatov, Vasko von Arx, Manuela Breitenmoser, Urs |
author_sort |
Lescureux, Nicolas |
title |
Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia |
title_short |
Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia |
title_full |
Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia |
title_fullStr |
Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynxin western Macedonia |
title_sort |
fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the eurasian lynx lynx lynxin western macedonia |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605310001547 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0030605310001547 |
genre |
Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
genre_facet |
Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
op_source |
Oryx volume 45, issue 4, page 600-607 ISSN 0030-6053 1365-3008 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605310001547 |
container_title |
Oryx |
container_volume |
45 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
600 |
op_container_end_page |
607 |
_version_ |
1810486119495630848 |