Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department & Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Aug 8;18(8):e0285546. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285546. eCollection 2023.
The intensity of human-carnivore conflict in socio-ecological systems may primarily be determined by people's attitudes and perceptions of carnivore-related threats. Direct or indirect threats posed by large carnivores to human interests may eventually lead to negative attitudes that can trigger retaliatory bahaviour against them. We studied local people's attitudes towards striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), the nature and extent of the human-hyena conflict, and the socio-cultural drivers of the conflicts in 19 rural communities in southwestern Iran. We employed structural equation modelling to assess socio-cultural factors affecting attitudes towards striped hyenas. The findings of 300 interviews showed significant differences in local people's superstitious attitudes regarding gender, age, and education. More than 40% of the participants had encountered hyenas, and on average, each respondent lost 0.44 livestock in the past five years due to hyena attacks. However, livestock depredation by the hyena was low (13.3%) compared to the damage inflicted by all carnivores (73%). While the respondents indicated some degrees of fear, hatred to hyena was relatively low and they generally showed positive attitudes towards the species. Women and older people expressed the highest and respondents with higher education the least superstitious beliefs. Attitude score of respondents toward hyenas was correlated negatively with hatred for hyenas and positively with knowledge about them, but socio-demographics effects on attitudes towards hyenas were not statistically significant. Self-reported livestock loss was a relatively good predictor of hatred and fear. Herders who had not protected their livestock reported carnivore attacks at least once. We conclude that superstitions can potentially negatively affect hyena persistence, but can be reduced by improving the educational level of local people.
人类-食肉动物冲突在社会生态系统中的强度可能主要取决于人们对与食肉动物相关威胁的态度和看法。大型食肉动物对人类利益构成的直接或间接威胁，最终可能导致负面态度，从而引发对它们的报复行为。我们研究了伊朗西南部 19 个农村社区的当地居民对条纹鬣狗（Hyaena hyaena）的态度、人与鬣狗冲突的性质和程度，以及冲突的社会文化驱动因素。我们采用结构方程模型评估了影响人们对条纹鬣狗态度的社会文化因素。300 次访谈的结果显示，当地居民在性别、年龄和受教育程度方面对鬣狗存在迷信态度，存在显著差异。超过 40%的参与者遇到过鬣狗，平均而言，每个受访者在过去五年中因鬣狗袭击而损失了 0.44 头牲畜。然而，与所有肉食动物（73%）造成的损害相比，鬣狗对牲畜的捕食率较低（13.3%）。尽管受访者表示存在一定程度的恐惧，但对鬣狗的仇恨相对较低，他们普遍对该物种持积极态度。女性和老年人的迷信程度最高，受教育程度较高的人则最低。受访者对鬣狗的态度得分与对鬣狗的仇恨呈负相关，与对鬣狗的了解呈正相关，但社会人口统计学因素对鬣狗态度的影响没有统计学意义。自我报告的牲畜损失是仇恨和恐惧的一个相对较好的预测指标。没有保护牲畜的牧民至少报告了一次受到肉食动物的攻击。我们的结论是，迷信可能会对鬣狗的生存产生潜在的负面影响，但可以通过提高当地居民的教育水平来降低。
