Studentsʼ attitudes to and knowledge of brown bears (Ursus arctos L.) : can more knowledge reduce fear and assist in conservation efforts?

Oražem, Vesna (avtor), Smolej, Tadeja (avtor), Tomažič, Iztok (avtor)

The expansion of large carnivores across Europe is posing a challenge to their conservation. Since success with conservation may depend significantly on human behavior, knowledge of certain behaviors’ emergence and all the factors that affect them are crucial. The present study included 534 students who were divided into a comparison group (n = 317) and a treatment group (n = 217) consisting of 309 lower secondary (LS, M$_{Age}$ = 12.2, SD = 0.94) and 225 upper secondary (US, n = 225, M$_{Age}$ = 16.5, SD = 0.99) school students. We assessed their attitudes to and knowledge of brown bears. An indirect effect of the workshops (instructions) is also described. Sociodemographic factors, such as gender and seeing a bear in nature, significantly influenced the students’ attitudes and knowledge. Residence, owning a dog, having a hunter in the family, breeding livestock and visiting a zoo had a smaller effect on the students’ attitudes and knowledge. The results thus show that greater knowledge is correlated with proconservation attitudes, and partly with reduction of fear. Therefore, future conservation and management should employ strong communication, especially education activities based on direct experiences and carefully designed information regarding species and socio-scientific issues.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: brown bear, Ursus arctos, attitudes, knowledge, workshops, conservation
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: BF - Biotehniška fakulteta
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2021
• Št. strani: 18 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 11, iss. 7, art. 1958
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-135732
• UDK: 599.744.211
• ISSN pri članku: 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani11071958
• COBISS.SI-ID: 69078531
• Datum objave v RUL: 30.03.2022

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Animals
• Skrajšan naslov: Animals
• Založnik: MDPI AG
• ISSN: 2076-2615
• COBISS.SI-ID: 519120409

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.
• Začetek licenciranja: 01.07.2021