Mohammadi Alireza, Alambeigi Amir
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Jiroft, Jiroft, Iran.
Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Faculty of Agriculture, University college of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 26;15(1):31340. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-16616-y.
Providing food to Free Ranging Dogs (FRDs) promotes population growth and subsequently harms wildlife through increased predation. In such a situation, the behavior of the local community towards FRDs makes its management doubly difficult. FRDs are a common concern in southern Iran, including Jiroft. However, there is a limited understanding of the community's attitudes towards these animals, creating challenges in implementing effective management practices. This study presents an exploratory investigation aimed at developing a preliminary conceptual model to understand the complex social factors influencing feeding behavior towards FRDs in this region. In such a complex system it is necessary to deal with numerous effects and loops that can influence feeding behavior. Where an emotional bond exists between FRDs and those who feed them. Through a survey of local residents (n = 398) in the city of Jiroft, we explored the social factors that support the feeding of FRDs. The current empirical research has presented the interaction of the variables including previous negative experience, perceived well-being, attitude towards FRDs, emotion and perceived risk in the form of two reinforcing and balancing loops. Overall, the causal model developed showed that feeding behavior of FRDs is rooted in previous experiences, and if this experience is negative, the feeding behavior will stop, and if there is no negative experience, this behavior will continue. Therefore, the main trigger is the previous experience, which is able to build a causal model of the behavioral chain.
给自由放养犬（FRDs）提供食物会促使其种群增长，进而通过增加捕食行为危害野生动物。在这种情况下，当地社区对自由放养犬的行为使得对其管理难上加难。自由放养犬是伊朗南部包括吉罗夫特在内的一个普遍问题。然而，人们对社区对这些动物的态度了解有限，这给实施有效的管理措施带来了挑战。本研究开展了一项探索性调查，旨在建立一个初步的概念模型，以了解影响该地区对自由放养犬投喂行为的复杂社会因素。在这样一个复杂的系统中，有必要处理众多可能影响投喂行为的效应和循环。当自由放养犬与投喂它们的人之间存在情感纽带时。通过对吉罗夫特市当地居民（n = 398）进行调查，我们探究了支持投喂自由放养犬的社会因素。当前的实证研究以两个增强回路和平衡回路的形式呈现了包括以往负面经历、感知幸福感、对自由放养犬的态度、情感和感知风险等变量之间的相互作用。总体而言，所建立的因果模型表明，自由放养犬的投喂行为源于以往的经历，如果这种经历是负面的，投喂行为就会停止，如果没有负面经历，这种行为就会持续。因此，主要触发因素是以往的经历，它能够构建行为链的因果模型。
