Lohr Cheryl A, Lepczyk Christopher A
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1910 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, U.S.A.
Conserv Biol. 2014 Apr;28(2):392-403. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12201. Epub 2013 Dec 20.
Feral cats are abundant in many parts of the world and a source of conservation conflict. Our goal was to clarify the beliefs and desires held by stakeholders regarding feral cat abundance and management. We measured people's desired abundance of feral cats in the Hawaiian Islands and identified an order of preference for 7 feral cat management techniques. In 2011 we disseminated a survey to 5407 Hawaii residents. Approximately 46% of preidentified stakeholders and 20% of random residents responded to the survey (1510 surveys returned). Results from the potential for conflict index revealed a high level of consensus (86.9% of respondents) that feral cat abundance should be decreased. The 3 most common explanatory variables for respondents' stated desires were enjoyment from seeing feral cats (84%), intrinsic value of feral cats (12%), and threat to native fauna (73%). The frequency with which respondents saw cats and change in the perceived abundance of cats also affected respondent's desired abundance of cats; 41.3% of respondents stated that they saw feral cats daily and 44.7% stated that the cat population had increased in recent years. Other potential environmental impacts of feral cats had little affect on desired abundance. The majority of respondents (78%) supported removing feral cats from the natural environment permanently. Consensus convergence models with data from 1388 respondents who completed the relevant questions showed live capture and lethal injection was the most preferred technique and trap-neuter-release was the least preferred technique for managing feral cats. However, the acceptability of each technique varied among stakeholders. Our results suggest that the majority of Hawaii's residents would like to see effective management that reduces the abundance of feral or free-roaming cats.
在世界许多地方，野猫数量众多，这引发了保护方面的冲突。我们的目标是厘清利益相关者对于野猫数量及管理的看法和期望。我们衡量了夏威夷群岛民众期望的野猫数量，并确定了7种野猫管理技术的偏好顺序。2011年，我们向5407名夏威夷居民发放了调查问卷。约46%预先确定的利益相关者和20%的随机抽取居民回复了调查问卷（共收回1510份）。冲突可能性指数的结果显示，对于应减少野猫数量这一点，存在高度共识（86.9%的受访者认同）。受访者表明的期望中，3个最常见的解释变量分别是看到野猫带来的愉悦感（84%）、野猫的内在价值（12%）以及对本地动物群的威胁（73%）。受访者看到猫的频率以及对猫数量感知的变化，也影响了他们期望的猫的数量；41.3%的受访者表示他们每天都能看到野猫，44.7%的受访者表示近年来猫的数量有所增加。野猫的其他潜在环境影响对期望数量影响不大。大多数受访者（78%）支持将野猫永久移出自然环境。对1388名完成相关问题的受访者的数据进行的共识收敛模型显示，活捉和注射致死是管理野猫最受青睐的技术，而诱捕绝育放归是最不受青睐的技术。然而，每种技术在利益相关者中的可接受程度各不相同。我们的结果表明，大多数夏威夷居民希望看到有效的管理措施，以减少野猫或自由放养猫的数量。
