Abstract

Human-wildlife interactions become increasingly common in urban areas across all continents and ecosystem types. Depending on the context, human-wildlife interactions can be categorized as harmonious, neutrality, or in conflict and raises cultural, economic and ecological challenges in maintaining urban biodiversity. Understanding the mechanism behind the tolerance of residents to the presence of wildlife is vital to promoting a harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife in urban environments.To advance our knowledge of this mechanism, we developed a questionnaire to survey residents in Shanghai, China about their knowledge of and attitude towards raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), a species whose population is increasing in urban areas. Using 281 questionnaires, we conducted structural equation modelling to examine how relational values, including familiarity with raccoon dogs, perceived benefits and risks, together with residents’ trust in wildlife management authorities, interactively influence the tolerance for this species.We found that the residents’ familiarity with raccoon dogs positively influenced their tolerance, both directly and indirectly through increased perceived benefits and reduced perceived risks. Furthermore, trust in wildlife management authorities contributed to higher tolerance through perceived benefits. Our results suggested that education about the relational values of raccoon dogs to the public can reduce the traditional negative connotation for this species and promote the coexistence of people and raccoon dogs in Shanghai urban environment.Based on our understanding about how raccoon dogs were culturally constructed and the willingness of residents to share landscapes with the species, we advocate that relational values play an important role in future urban biodiversity conservation planning. We also advocate for education programs that familiarize the public with raccoon dogs as well as other species, which can turn urban human-wildlife conflicts into harmonious relationships in Shanghai and other urban areas.

摘要

各个大洲的不同城市生态系统中，人和野生动物的相互影响都处于持续增加过程之中。城市环境中的人和野生动物关系可以分为和谐、中性或是冲突等不同关系。无论是哪一种关系，都可能进一步带来城市生物多样性保护在文化、经济和生态等不同领域中的挑战。因此，阐明影响城市居民对于城市野生动物容忍度的关键机制，对于促进城市环境中人和野生动物的和谐共存具有重要意义。为进一步拓展我们对于这一机制的理解，我们在上海设计了一套关于城市居民对本土物种貉的调查问卷，系统收集了城市居民对于貉的了解程度和态度等关键信息。基于281份有效问卷，我们构建了结构方程模型，系统评估了包括居民对貉了解程度、感知收益、感知风险、居民对野生动物主管部门的信任度等关系价值指标，如何最终影响了城市居民对貉的容忍度。我们发现，对于貉了解程度的增加能够提升城市居民对貉的容忍度，同时提升了居民对貉的感知收益并且降低了感知风险。我们进一步发现，对于城市野生动物主管部门信任度的提升，能够提升居民对貉的容忍度，并且提升居民对貉的感知收益。我们的这些结论揭示，围绕人与貉的关系价值方面的科普、教育和传播工作，能够改变传统认知中这一物种的负面形象，从而促进上海城市环境中人与貉的和谐共存。我们的研究揭示了传统文化和认知如何影响城市居民对貉的态度。我们建议在未来的城市生物多样性保护工作中，人和城市野生动物的关系价值应被作为重要课题深入研究。无论是在上海还是在世界其他城市，如果各种教育和科学传播工作能够帮助市民熟悉貉或者其他城市野生动物，那么我们将拥有更大的机会将人兽冲突转化为人和野生动物的和谐共存。