Education can improve the negative perception of a threatened long-lived scavenging bird, the Andean condor.

Verónica B Cailly Arnulphi,Carlos E Borghi,Sergio A Lambertucci,Emmanuel Serrano Ferron

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185278

Abstract

Human-wildlife conflicts currently represent one of the main conservation problems for wildlife species around the world. Vultures have serious conservation concerns, many of which are related to people's adverse perception about them due to the belief that they prey on livestock. Our aim was to assess local perception and the factors influencing people's perception of the largest scavenging bird in South America, the Andean condor. For this, we interviewed 112 people from Valle Fértil, San Juan province, a rural area of central west Argentina. Overall, people in the area mostly have an elementary education, and their most important activity is livestock rearing. The results showed that, in general, most people perceive the Andean condor as an injurious species and, in fact, some people recognize that they still kill condors. We identified two major factors that affect this perception, the education level of villagers and their relationship with livestock ranching. Our study suggests that conservation of condors and other similar scavengers depends on education programs designed to change the negative perception people have about them. Such programs should be particularly focused on ranchers since they are the ones who have the worst perception of these scavengers. We suggest that highlighting the central ecological role of scavengers and recovering their cultural value would be fundamental to reverse their persecution and their negative perception by people.

Highlights

Human-wildlife conflicts currently represent one of the main conservation problems for wildlife species around the world [1]
Since 2000, declines have continued in Ecuador (c.100 birds remain in five disjunct populations), Peru (c.120 birds in north of the country) and Bolivia (c.250 in one mountain location [50,51]).The population in Venezuela consists of nearly 30 individuals or fewer, and the one in Colombia is estimated at approximately 100 individuals [30]
The native American people that lived in Valle Fertil were Diaguita descendants called “Yacampis”

Summary

Introduction

Human-wildlife conflicts currently represent one of the main conservation problems for wildlife species around the world [1]. These conflicts are increasing globally due to human population growth, land use changes, habitat loss and fragmentation, and climate change, among other reasons [2]. Yacampis began to disappear in the 17th century, and around 1810 only a mestizo population of Hispanic and Amerindian ancestry remained in this area These mestizo people used the area’s wildlife, and introduced livestock. Extensive livestock ranching is still a common and important cultural and economic practice across the entire department, and the people in Valle Fertil are mostly ranchers

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Conclusion