Media attitudes toward wolves reflect recolonization phases, livestock predation peaks, and electoral cycles.

Abstract

The ongoing recolonization of Europe by wolves (Canis lupus) has generated substantial societal attention reflected in media narratives, where attitudes vary in their framing of conservation success and human-wildlife conflict. We examined factors influencing media attitudes toward wolves by analyzing over 4000 online news articles from the Italian Alpine regions across a decade, employing both human and neural network classifications. Bayesian modeling identified clear spatial and temporal patterns: negative media sentiment prevailed in recently recolonized areas, whereas positive attitudes emerged in regions with established wolf populations and at the national level. Negative sentiment correlated strongly with seasonal peaks in predation on livestock and proximity to regional, national, and European elections. We revealed how spatial recolonization dynamics, human-wildlife conflicts, and electoral cycles collectively shape media framing of a recolonizing controversial carnivore. These findings inform conservation strategies that address human-wildlife conflict dynamics while acknowledging the politicized dimension surrounding the species.