TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS THE ANDEAN CONDOR (Vultur gryphus LINNAEUS, 1758) IN THE CENTRAL ANDES OF COLOMBIA

Abstract

Despite its cultural importance as a key component of the Andean landscape, some perceptions of rural inhabitants towards the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus Linnaeus, 1758) persist, as they relate to the possible predation of domestic animals such as sheep and cattle. These perceptions are compounded by only a basic knowledge of the natural history of the species and have resulted in the historical persecution of the condors by the local peasant communities. We studied the variation of traditional knowledge about the Andean condor diet; comparing responses of adult women and adult men and adults and young people. We described the perceptions of rural farmers towards V. gryphus in Caldas and Tolima, Central Andes of Colombia. Adult men demonstrated a more detailed knowledge of the types of food of V. gryphus compared to adult women; but both adult men and women responded more accurately than both sexes of young people. Overall, the perceptions towards the condors were mostly positive. It is likely that the greater knowledge of adult men corresponds to the time they spend outdoors tending their crops and animals, while the younger generation receive their information through popular media, such as television, magazines and books, as well as educational materials. It is important to incorporate the gender perspective into conservation initiatives and educational programs to effectively protect the remaining endangered populations of condors in Colombia.

Ecuadorian Children’s Willingness to Protect Endangered Species – Identifying Behavioral Predictors in a Biodiversity Hotspot

“…The jaguar is a species that is often associated with human-wildlife conflicts (Marchini & Macdonald, 2019), thus it might not be surprising that the perceived threat level did not influence willingness to protect. Moreover, Andean bears are often perceived as aggressors that harm humans or their livestock, however, this could also be argued for the Andean condor (Restrepo et al, 2019;Zukowski & Ormsby, 2016). Nevertheless, the condor is a charismatic species and is present in the Ecuadorian national coat of arms (Gade, 2016), perhaps explaining the different results for these species.…”

Perceptions of the Andean condor in the urban population of Ecuador

“…Much work must still be done on these problems to confront, mitigate, and conserve the species. In fact, it is a species for which we have limited knowledge of natural history (Astudillo et al, 2016;Restrepo, Sáenz-Jiménez, Lieberman, 2019;Zambrano-Monserrate, 2020) and large gaps in our knowledge of its reproductive ecology in the wild (Lambertucci and Mastrantuoni, 2008;Lambertucci and Speziale, 2009;Restrepo-Cardona et al, 2018). This limitation has been reflected in social groups that show a lack of education and knowledge about its natural history (Castillo-Figueroa and Sáenz-Jíménez, 2019;Restrepo et al, 2019).…”

“…Studies about perceptions of the Andean condor have been carried out throughout its range of distribution (Cailly Arnulphi, Lambertucci, Borghi, 2017;Manzano-García, Jiménez Escobar, Lobo Allende, Cailly Arnulphi, 2017;Restrepo et al, 2019;Zambrano-Monserrate, 2020). These studies show negative perceptions associated with the predation of domestic animals (Cailly Arnulphi et al, 2017;Manzano-García et al, 2017) and positive perceptions associated with their scavenging diet (Restrepo et al, 2019). However, few studies have been focused on rural communities (Ballejo, Plaza, Lambertucci, 2020;Cailly Arnulphi et al, 2017;Manzano-García et al, 2017;Restrepo et al, 2019).…”

“…These studies show negative perceptions associated with the predation of domestic animals (Cailly Arnulphi et al, 2017;Manzano-García et al, 2017) and positive perceptions associated with their scavenging diet (Restrepo et al, 2019). However, few studies have been focused on rural communities (Ballejo, Plaza, Lambertucci, 2020;Cailly Arnulphi et al, 2017;Manzano-García et al, 2017;Restrepo et al, 2019). Research about the perception of the Andean condor in urban populations showed interest in investing in conservation of the species (Zambrano-Monserrate, 2020).…”

Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the Southern Yungas: What Role do Raptors Play for Local Settlers?

“…For example, negative perceptions and attitudes may be associated with social representations rooted in cultural or traditional views, related with symbolic, meaning-making and emotive realms, that for local settlers could be more important than scientifically-acquired evidence [ 27 , 28 ]. In recent years, several studies have addressed this and other factors of the human dimension of human-raptor conflict and contributed to the comprehension of local perceptions towards raptors in different regions and environments [ 21 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ].…”