Protecting and managing populations of large carnivores, among which the brown bear is classified, is difficult due to controversial views of the general public. Science plays a crucial role in managing populations, making decisions and raising public awareness. Education has an essential role in spreading knowledge, raising people's awareness and providing a variety of experiences that are the most important at promoting awareness of the importance of a particular animal species and its existence. Different forms of education allow us to influence the formation of positive attitudes towards the brown bear. We studied the opinion of primary and secondary school students about the importance and role of brown bear in nature. The study involved 115 7th grade students of the primary school and 149 students at the 2nd year of secondary school. Using the questionnaire, we assessed the attitudes of primary and secondary school students to the brown bear by the 5-level Likert scale. Girls of primary and secondary school showed more positive “Ecologistic” and “Moralistic” attitudes toward brown bear than boys. Primary school students express more positive attitudes towards the protection of brown bear than secondary school students. Students of high schools that are located at the area of the presence of the brown bear appear to express more negative attitudes toward brown bear than students that attend high schools which are located outside of the area of the presence of a brown bear. Fear of brown bears originates mainly from indirect sources and is not related to direct negative experiences with brown bears.
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