Attitudes towards returning wolves (Canis lupus) in Germany: Exposure, information sources and trust matter

Abstract

22Understanding how exposure and information affect public attitudes towards returning large 23 carnivores in Europe is critical for human-carnivore coexistence, especially for developing 24 efficient and de-escalating communication strategies. The ongoing recolonization of wolves 25 (Canis lupus) in Germany provides a unique opportunity to test the role of different 26 information sources and trust on people's attitudes towards wolves. We conducted a phone 27 survey (n=1250) and compared country-wide attitudes towards wolves with attitudes in a 28 specific region where wolves initially recolonized and have been present since 2000. In 29 particular, we investigate the relationship between information sources, trust and people's 30 attitudes while accounting for factors like knowledge, exposure and socio-cultural 31 determinants of respondents. We found significant differences in attitudes and knowledge 32 about wolves as well as in the use and frequency of information sources between the two 33 population samples. Higher knowledge, information from books and films, science-based 34 information, and higher trust in information sources related positively with positive attitudes 35 towards wolves. Comparatively, information from press or TV news was associated with 36 more negative attitudes. Providing science-based information to the public and building trust 37 in information is likely to be one measure, among others, to dampen extreme attitudes and 38 improve people's appreciation of costs and benefits of human-carnivore coexistence. 39Management of conflictual situations emerging from large carnivore recolonization in Europe 40 and beyond should consider incorporating assessments of people's use of and trust in 41 information in addition to existing tools to pave new ways for constructive human-carnivore 42 coexistence. 43

The positive experience of encountering wolves in the wild

“…Indirect experiences (e.g., interactions with other people, exposure to media and various information sources, etc.) can critically influence people's opinions and attitudes (Arbieu et al, ; Dickman, ; Liu et al, ). These indirect experiences are expected to increase during the recolonization of large carnivores, as the increased media coverage during the process of wolf recolonization in several countries shows (Chandelier, Steuckardt, & Mathevet, ; Fernández‐Gil et al, ; Houston, Bruskotter, & Fan, ).…”

“…It is therefore fundamental to consider positive aspects of large carnivore occurrence and recolonization to design management measures that consider all aspects of coexistence. Furthermore, the positive or negative nature of the indirect experiences with large carnivores, such as the various sources of information like the print and online media, social networks, or the exchange people have with their relatives can play a pivotal role in shaping people's attitudes toward large carnivores (Arbieu et al, ). Understanding positive and negative as well as direct and indirect experiences related to large carnivores and their influence on people's attitudes is a necessary step in paving the way toward long‐term coexistence with large carnivore species.…”

“…The response rate for this phone survey was 34.4%. Further details of the phone survey protocol can be found in the supporting information of an earlier study (Arbieu et al, ).…”

“…We excluded responses containing “never” for previous encounters with wolves in the different contexts, as the comparison between people who have seen wolves with those who have not is presented elsewhere (Arbieu et al, ). We also excluded the “100 times” category because of very low sample sizes ( n = 49 in captivity, n = 2 in the wild outside and within Germany).…”

“…Very little research exists in other regions with human‐wolf coexistence like the human‐dominated landscapes of Central Europe. These landscapes are of particular interest, because wolf recolonization took place recently (Chapron et al, ; Hindrikson et al, ) and people's tolerance can differ between regions affected differently by wolf return in a single country like Germany (Arbieu et al, ). However, we do not know how the recent return of the wolf affects personal experiences.…”