Public attitudes and intentions toward engaging in reintroduction of wolves to Japan
© 2023 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
| Veröffentlicht in: | Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology. - 1989. - 37(2023), 6 vom: 01. Dez., Seite e14130 |
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| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2023
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology |
| Schlagworte: | Journal Article Japanese behavioral intentions caring beliefs creencias humanitarias ecological restoration encuesta nacional intenciones conductuales japonés modelo de ecuación estructural mehr... |
| Zusammenfassung: | © 2023 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology. Reintroducing apex predators is an important approach in ecosystem restoration; however, it is challenging. Wolves (Canis lupus) were exterminated in Japan around 1900, and since then, there has been a lack of top predators throughout the country. Currently, the wild ungulate population is increasing, causing agricultural and forest damage. This has triggered an ongoing debate among researchers and nongovernmental organizations on whether wolves should be reintroduced to promote self-regulating biodiverse ecosystems. We conducted a nationwide survey to examine public attitudes toward wolf reintroduction (WR) in Japan. We sent online questionnaires to 88,318 citizens across the country. Among the 12,028 respondents, excluding those with invalid or incomplete answers and unqualified respondents, we obtained and analyzed 7500 responses that were representative of Japanese citizens in terms of some key sociodemographic attributes. More respondents disagreed with WR (39.9%) than agreed (17.1%), and many respondents (43.0%) were undecided. Structural equation modeling revealed that risk perceptions affected public attitudes, implying that the greater the perceived threat of wolf attacks, the less likely people are to support WR. In contrast, attitudes toward wolves (e.g., "I like wolves.") influenced by wildlife value orientation and beliefs about the ecological role of wolves (e.g., controlling deer populations) positively affected public attitudes toward WR. Those who had a positive attitude toward WR showed intentions to engage in behaviors that support WR. Our results suggest that the dissemination of information related to the ecological role of wolves and the development of a more mutualistic mindset in people could positively influence public support for WR in Japan |
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| Beschreibung: | Date Completed 11.12.2023 Date Revised 20.05.2024 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1523-1739 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/cobi.14130 |