Differences in reporting human-wild boar interactions in Chinese and English news media

Abstract

ABSTRACT Human–wildlife interactions generate public interest and attract substantial media attention. This becomes particularly interesting in regions where different languages are used by media reports, creating the opportunity to investigate associations between language and the perspectives presented in the reports. In this article, we used 207 English articles (from 2006 to 2019) and 721 Chinese articles (from 2016 to 2019) on human-wild boar interactions in Hong Kong to analyze the gaps and differences in how the interactions are presented in the Chinese and English language media. Although English and Chinese news reporting on interactions follow similar geographical patterns, they differed significantly in terms of the content included, the identity of interviewees, the management strategies mentioned and the reported causes of “conflict.” The distinct presentation of human-wild boar interactions in English and Chinese news has the potential to contribute to diverging public attitudes toward the wild boar and policy development.