Abstract
The increase of wolves in Scandinavia is associated with socio‐ecological conflicts, and the conservation and management of this species is as much a political and socio‐cultural challenge as a biological matter. One component in this conflict is people's feeling of fear, but there have been very few evaluations of management interventions aimed at addressing human fear of wolves. Based on the theory of human—environment interaction, this paper presents a first attempt to evaluate the effect of introducing a hand‐held ultrasonic scaring device. A total of 27 persons living in wolf territories had access to the device for six months. No significant effect on participants' appraisal of wolves, trust in managing authorities, or selfreported fear could be identified. The investigated psychological variables were stable over time in a reference sample of people in the large‐carnivore counties (n = 202). The introduction of the device was largely rejected by the public. In‐depth interviews with 10 persons who declined the invitation to have access to the device revealed that the device was considered an irrelevant solution to the conflict between humans and wolves, and that people lacked trust in the technology. It is concluded that the potential in using an ultrasonic device to reduce fear of wolves seems very limited in the present context. Further interventions to address human fear must be identified in dialogue with the people affected, and should preferably be based on psychological principles.
Highlights
Based on the theory on human–environment interaction and associated methodology, this exploratory study should be considered a first attempt to scientifically evaluate the introduction of technology put forward to address human fear of wolves, an ultrasonic device (Gore et al 2008)
The reluctance seems to be founded in the larger socio-political conflicts around large carnivores, including negative views on managing authorities, lack of trust in the technology, as well as personal individual reasons
The motivation to use the device among participants relatively fearful of wolves might be explained by other perceived benefits of access to the device, such as the mere attention given to this aspect of human-large carnivore conflicts by the managing authorities
Summary
The specific objectives of study 1 were to evaluate the effect of six months with free access to an ultrasonic device on: 1) The appraisal of potential wolf encounters as dangerous, unpredictable and uncontrollable, as captured by the CVM variables. We expected that access to the device would change the appraisal of a potential encounter. As the sound of the device is designed to surprise and startle the wolf, we predicted a decrease in the CVM ratings. The free access to the device can be seen as an attempt from managing authorities to address the public’s fear, and we expected that social trust would increase. In line with the expected changes in the antecedents of fear, we expected a decrease in self-reported valence as well as in the specific feeling of fear.
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