Abstract
BackgroundHuman values and folklore of wildlife strongly influence the effectiveness of conservation efforts. These values and folklore may also vary with certain demographic characteristics such as gender, age, or education. Reptiles and amphibians are among the least appreciated of vertebrates and are victims of many negative values and wrong ideas resulting from the direct interpretation of folklore. We try to demonstrate how these values and folklore can affect the way people relate to them and also the possible conservation impacts on these animals.MethodsA questionnaire survey distributed to 514 people in the district of Évora, Portugal, was used to obtain data regarding the hypothesis that the existence of wrong ideas and negative values contributes to the phenomenon of human-associated persecution of these animals. A structural equation model was specified in order to confirm the hypothesis about the possible relationships between the presence of perceptions and negative values about amphibians and reptiles and persecution and anti-conservation attitudes. Sociodemographic variables were also added.ResultsThe results of the model suggest that the presence of folklore and negative values clearly predicts persecution and anti-conservation attitudes towards amphibians and reptiles. Also, the existence of folklore varies sociodemographically, but negative values concerning these animals are widespread in the population.ConclusionsWith the use of structural equation models, this work is a contribution to the study of how certain ideas and values can directly influence human attitudes towards herpetofauna and how they can be a serious conservation issue.
Highlights
Human values and folklore of wildlife strongly influence the effectiveness of conservation efforts
A negative value reflects the fact that the disdain for reptiles is widespread throughout the population, and no significant differences were found between any of the sociodemographic variables
The results suggest that the human persecution and anti-conservation attitudes towards reptiles and amphibians are explained by the presence of folklore and negative values and that sociodemographic variables affect the presence of these ideas and values
Summary
Human values and folklore of wildlife strongly influence the effectiveness of conservation efforts. These values and folklore may vary with certain demographic characteristics such as gender, age, or education. The Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) is another exception to this rule and illustrates the factors affecting wildlife conservation. The perception that a particular animal is dangerous and aggressive to humans, like the Iberian wolf in Portugal, has led to other similar situations for other large carnivores all over the world, as documented in other studies [10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20]
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