Journal Article

Multiscale Factors Affecting Human Attitudes toward Snow Leopards and Wolves

SURYAWANSHI, KULBHUSHANSINGH R., BHATIA, SALONI, BHATNAGAR, YASH VEER, MISHRA, CHARUDUTT, REDPATH, STEPHEN

2014

Overview

The threat posed by large carnivores to livestock and humans makes peaceful coexistence between them difficult. Effective implementation of conservation laws and policies depends on the attitudes of local residents toward the target species. There are many known correlates of human attitudes toward carnivores, but they have only been assessed at the scale of the individual. Because human societies are organized hierarchically, attitudes are presumably influenced by different factors at different scales of social organization, but this scale dependence has not been examined. We used structured interview surveys to quantitatively assess the attitudes of a Buddhist pastoral community toward snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and wolves (Canis lupus). We interviewed 381 individuals from 24 villages within 6 study sites across the high‐elevation Spiti Valley in the Indian Trans‐Himalaya. We gathered information on key explanatory variables that together captured variation in individual and village‐level socioeconomic factors. We used hierarchical linear models to examine how the effect of these factors on human attitudes changed with the scale of analysis from the individual to the community. Factors significant at the individual level were gender, education, and age of the respondent (for wolves and snow leopards), number of income sources in the family (wolves), agricultural production, and large‐bodied livestock holdings (snow leopards). At the community level, the significant factors included the number of smaller‐bodied herded livestock killed by wolves and mean agricultural production (wolves) and village size and large livestock holdings (snow leopards). Our results show that scaling up from the individual to higher levels of social organization can highlight important factors that influence attitudes of people toward wildlife and toward formal conservation efforts in general. Such scale‐specific information can help managers apply conservation measures at appropriate scales. Our results reiterate the need for conflict management programs to be multipronged.

• Publisher: Blackwell Scientific Publications,Blackwell Publishing Ltd,Wiley Periodicals Inc,Wiley-Blackwell
• Subject: Aceptación de la vida silvestre / Agricultural production / Animal, plant and microbial ecology / Animals / Applied ecology / Attitude / Attitudes / attitudes and opinions / Biodiversity conservation / Biological and medical sciences / Buddhism / Canis lupus / carnivore / Carnivores / carnívoro / conflict management / conflictos humano - vida silvestre / Conservation biology / Conservation of Natural Resources / Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife / Contributed Papers / education / Felidae / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / gender / General aspects / human-wildlife conflicts / Humans / income / India / issues and policy / linear models / Livestock / Mammalia / managers / Panthera uncia / Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking / Predators / Protected areas / Psychological attitudes / Snow / social structure / Socioeconomic Factors / Socioeconomics / surveys / Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution / Villages / Wildcats / Wildlife / wildlife acceptance / Wildlife conservation / Wolves