Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest
Cohabitation between humans and carnivores is vital to the continued existence and integrity of ecosystems, often playing a large role in the success of large carnivore conservation. We focus on interactions between humans and carnivores in the world’s largest, relatively intact temperate rainforest...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2071-1050/13/23/13270/ 2023-08-20T04:06:31+02:00 Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest Max C. Leveridge Amélie Y. Davis Sarah L. Dumyahn agris 2021-11-30 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313270 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su132313270 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Sustainability; Volume 13; Issue 23; Pages: 13270 human–wildlife relations wolf cougar wolverine bear hunting ecotourism indigenous people North America cohabitation coexistence anthrotherology Text 2021 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313270 2023-08-01T03:25:10Z Cohabitation between humans and carnivores is vital to the continued existence and integrity of ecosystems, often playing a large role in the success of large carnivore conservation. We focus on interactions between humans and carnivores in the world’s largest, relatively intact temperate rainforest—The Great Bear Rainforest (GBR), British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, we focus on residents of Prince Rupert, a city within the GBR, and examine its residents’ ecological and relational attitudes towards the surrounding area of protected rainforest and the large carnivores present in the area. We aim to determine the strength of public attitudes and values of the environment and carnivores in the GBR, and to examine whether they differ between First Nations and non-First Nations residents of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. We conducted 28 semi-structured interviews of Prince Rupert residents. At the start of the interview, respondents self-administered a survey consisting of statements from the Social Ecological Relational Value and the New Ecological Paradigm scales. We find no significant difference between First Nations and non-First Nations respondent attitudes. This is possibly due to three factors: (1) cultural influence from the local First Nations, (2) the fact that these carnivores are important for the local economy through tourism, and (3) a strong sense of place associated with the area and the carnivores that inhabit it regardless of positive or negative encounters with these animals. While we find positive attitudes towards carnivores and little evidence of human–wildlife conflict, feelings towards carnivores encountered in town or while hiking tend to be negative, especially when they involve wolves. In order to mitigate these effects in a way that protects these valuable creatures, respondents overwhelmingly clamored for a conservation officer to be assigned to Prince Rupert. We conclude that policy and management might alleviate human–carnivore conflicts in the area should our results be ... Text First Nations MDPI Open Access Publishing Canada British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Rupert ENVELOPE(-134.187,-134.187,59.599,59.599) Prince Rupert ENVELOPE(-130.297,-130.297,54.290,54.290) Sustainability 13 23 13270 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
human–wildlife relations wolf cougar wolverine bear hunting ecotourism indigenous people North America cohabitation coexistence anthrotherology |
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human–wildlife relations wolf cougar wolverine bear hunting ecotourism indigenous people North America cohabitation coexistence anthrotherology Max C. Leveridge Amélie Y. Davis Sarah L. Dumyahn Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest |
topic_facet |
human–wildlife relations wolf cougar wolverine bear hunting ecotourism indigenous people North America cohabitation coexistence anthrotherology |
description |
Cohabitation between humans and carnivores is vital to the continued existence and integrity of ecosystems, often playing a large role in the success of large carnivore conservation. We focus on interactions between humans and carnivores in the world’s largest, relatively intact temperate rainforest—The Great Bear Rainforest (GBR), British Columbia, Canada. Specifically, we focus on residents of Prince Rupert, a city within the GBR, and examine its residents’ ecological and relational attitudes towards the surrounding area of protected rainforest and the large carnivores present in the area. We aim to determine the strength of public attitudes and values of the environment and carnivores in the GBR, and to examine whether they differ between First Nations and non-First Nations residents of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. We conducted 28 semi-structured interviews of Prince Rupert residents. At the start of the interview, respondents self-administered a survey consisting of statements from the Social Ecological Relational Value and the New Ecological Paradigm scales. We find no significant difference between First Nations and non-First Nations respondent attitudes. This is possibly due to three factors: (1) cultural influence from the local First Nations, (2) the fact that these carnivores are important for the local economy through tourism, and (3) a strong sense of place associated with the area and the carnivores that inhabit it regardless of positive or negative encounters with these animals. While we find positive attitudes towards carnivores and little evidence of human–wildlife conflict, feelings towards carnivores encountered in town or while hiking tend to be negative, especially when they involve wolves. In order to mitigate these effects in a way that protects these valuable creatures, respondents overwhelmingly clamored for a conservation officer to be assigned to Prince Rupert. We conclude that policy and management might alleviate human–carnivore conflicts in the area should our results be ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Max C. Leveridge Amélie Y. Davis Sarah L. Dumyahn |
author_facet |
Max C. Leveridge Amélie Y. Davis Sarah L. Dumyahn |
author_sort |
Max C. Leveridge |
title |
Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest |
title_short |
Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest |
title_full |
Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest |
title_fullStr |
Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluating Attitudes towards Large Carnivores within the Great Bear Rainforest |
title_sort |
evaluating attitudes towards large carnivores within the great bear rainforest |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313270 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) ENVELOPE(-134.187,-134.187,59.599,59.599) ENVELOPE(-130.297,-130.297,54.290,54.290) |
geographic |
Canada British Columbia Rupert Prince Rupert |
geographic_facet |
Canada British Columbia Rupert Prince Rupert |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Sustainability; Volume 13; Issue 23; Pages: 13270 |
op_relation |
Sustainability, Biodiversity and Conservation https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su132313270 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313270 |
container_title |
Sustainability |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
23 |
container_start_page |
13270 |
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