Can Farmers and Bats Co-exist? Farmer Attitudes, Knowledge, and Experiences with Bats in Belize

IF 0.9 4区环境科学与生态学 Q4 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Human–Wildlife Interactions Pub Date : 2020-01-01 DOI:10.26077/5WWP-SP53

H. Shapiro, A. Willcox, Mallory K Tate, Emma V. Willcox

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引用次数: 21

Abstract

Bats (Chiroptera) are often viewed negatively by the public. Negative public perceptions of bats may hinder efforts to conserve declining populations. In Belize, the presence of vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus and Diphylla ecaudata) exacerbates the potential for conflicts with humans because of the increased rabies transmission risks. To mitigate these risks, the Belize government provides farmers with assistance to trap and remove vampire bats. In June 2018, we surveyed farmers (n = 44) in and adjacent to the Vaca Forest Reserve in Belize to learn more about their attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with bats. This information may provide new insights and approaches to address farmers’ concerns and enhance bat conservation efforts in Belize. Farmers held negative attitudes toward bats, exhibited low knowledge of their ecosystem services, and supported the trapping and use of toxicants to control bat populations to reduce the risk of rabies transmission between vampire bats and livestock. Farmers with livestock had more negative attitudes toward bats than farmers without livestock. Despite farmers reporting depredation incidences with fruit-eating and vampire bats, farmers expressed more negative attitudes toward vampire bats. We recommend that conservation education efforts target all stakeholders in the reserve to increase awareness about the importance of bats to ecosystems and highlight the dangers of indiscriminate trapping. Cumulatively, this may lead to positive attitude changes toward bats and their conservation.

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农民和蝙蝠能共存吗?伯利兹农民对蝙蝠的态度、知识和经验

蝙蝠(翼翅目)经常被公众视为负面的。公众对蝙蝠的负面看法可能会阻碍保护蝙蝠数量下降的努力。在伯利兹，由于狂犬病传播风险的增加，吸血蝙蝠(圆齿刺蝠和尾双叶蝠)的存在加剧了与人类发生冲突的可能性。为了减轻这些风险，伯利兹政府向农民提供帮助，以诱捕和清除吸血蝙蝠。2018年6月，我们对伯利兹Vaca森林保护区及其附近的农民(n = 44)进行了调查，以更多地了解他们对蝙蝠的态度、知识和经历。这一信息可能为解决伯利兹农民关注的问题和加强蝙蝠保护工作提供新的见解和方法。农民对蝙蝠持消极态度，对其生态系统服务的认识较低，支持诱捕和使用毒物控制蝙蝠种群，以降低吸血蝙蝠与牲畜之间狂犬病传播的风险。饲养牲畜的农民对蝙蝠的态度比不饲养牲畜的农民更消极。尽管农民报告了吃水果的蝙蝠和吸血蝙蝠的掠夺事件，但农民对吸血蝙蝠表达了更多的负面态度。我们建议保护教育工作针对保护区的所有利益相关者，以提高人们对蝙蝠对生态系统重要性的认识，并强调不分皂白地诱捕蝙蝠的危险。累积起来，这可能会导致人们对蝙蝠及其保护的积极态度发生变化。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Human–Wildlife Interactions Environmental Science-Nature and Landscape Conservation

CiteScore

2.80

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

11 weeks

期刊介绍： Human–Wildlife Interactions (HWI) serves the professional needs of the wildlife biologist and manager in the arena of human–wildlife conflicts/interactions, wildlife damage management, and contemporary wildlife management. The intent of HWI is to publish original contributions on all aspects of contemporary wildlife management and human–wildlife interactions with an emphasis on scientific research and management case studies that identify and report innovative conservation strategies, technologies, tools, and partnerships that can enhance human–wildlife interactions by mitigating human–wildlife conflicts through direct and indirect management of wildlife and increased stakeholder engagement. Our intent is to promote a dialogue among wildlife professionals concerning contemporary management issues. As such, we hope to provide a repository for wildlife management science and case studies that document and share manager experiences and lessons learned.