Shafie Nur Juliani, Sah Shahrul Anuar Mohd, Mutalib Aini Hasanah Abdul, Fadzly Nik
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
Centre for Marine & Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
Trop Life Sci Res. 2017 Jul;28(2):31-44. doi: 10.21315/tlsr2017.28.2.3. Epub 2017 Jul 31.
The population of bats has declined from year to year caused by human activities such as logging and hunting activities. Since the human factor is linked to the issues of population decline in many animal species, a community-based conservation strategy that involved local communities is needed. We conducted face-to-face surveys among residents in Penang Island to assess knowledge and awareness level toward bats conservation efforts. We collected demographic values such as age, gender, level of education, length of residency as well as their monthly income, since different group in these variable might have different perception. We found that age groups, level of education and monthly income have shown significant differences among the respondents. However, no other significant differences were indicated for by gender and length of residency. Respondent's knowledge of bats showed that the majority of the respondents were less likely to value the importance of bats in the ecosystem. We recommended stronger legal system, earlier exposure towards environmental education, well-planned urbanisation implementation and long-term monitoring programs to strengthen efforts in conserving bats in Malaysia.
由于伐木和狩猎等人类活动，蝙蝠的数量逐年下降。由于人类因素与许多动物物种的数量下降问题相关，因此需要一种涉及当地社区的基于社区的保护策略。我们在槟城岛的居民中进行了面对面调查，以评估他们对蝙蝠保护工作的知识和认识水平。我们收集了年龄、性别、教育程度、居住时间以及月收入等人口统计学数据，因为这些变量中的不同群体可能有不同的看法。我们发现，受访者在年龄组、教育程度和月收入方面存在显著差异。然而，性别和居住时间方面没有显示出其他显著差异。受访者对蝙蝠的了解表明，大多数受访者不太可能重视蝙蝠在生态系统中的重要性。我们建议加强法律制度，尽早开展环境教育，精心规划城市化实施，并实施长期监测计划，以加强马来西亚保护蝙蝠的工作。
