Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Wildlife Research Wildlife Research Society
Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WR > WR23096 > Fulltext
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 51(8)

Assessing local landowner versus non-local public support for a red wolf reintroduction using varying message treatments

Madaline G. Toth https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5390-0438 A * and Elena C. Rubino https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8037-8385 A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Division of Agriculture, Arkansas Forest Resources Center, University of Arkansas System, Little Rock, AR, USA.

* Correspondence to: maddietoth@yahoo.com

Handling Editor: Pablo Ferreras

Wildlife Research 51, WR23096 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR23096
Submitted: 8 August 2023  Accepted: 9 July 2024  Published: 1 August 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context

Large carnivore reintroductions often face unique challenges, as they can conflict with human interests and face public opposition. To increase the probability of success, reintroduction programs can use strategic communications to increase public support and achieve conservation goals.

Aims

Although there is initial research testing theoretically-grounded messages on generating support for reintroductions, there is much to learn about the efficacy of messaging strategies, particularly how specific themes perform against each other. Despite the established importance of local support for successful reintroductions, there is little research examining local versus non-local communities’ responses to different messaging. This study fills these gaps by examining how strategic messaging can be employed to increase public support for a potential red wolf (Canis rufus) reintroduction in Ozark National Forest, Arkansas, USA.

Methods

We used an online survey panel of 844 Arkansas respondents to test five randomly assigned messages: a descriptive control and four treatments related to trust in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS); red wolf benefits to humans; red wolf benefits to the ecosystem; and mitigating perceived red wolf risks. We compared Ozark National Forest-adjacent landowner (ONFALO) respondents to all other respondents to understand the effects of messaging on local versus non-local communities.

Key results

Our findings indicated significant differences among ONFALO respondents and other respondents. We found key differences in how messaging induced these two groups. Additionally, our pre-test-post-test approach demonstrated ONFALO were less influenced by messaging about a potential reintroduction than other respondents. Finally, we found that ONFALO respondents agreed with negative statements about red wolves more often than other respondents.

Conclusions

Overall, we conclude that messaging that highlights red wolf information may increase ONFALO respondents’ support for a potential red wolf reintroduction, and that efforts to increase self-efficacy in risk mitigation, and messaging related to ecosystem benefits of red wolves may also be beneficial.

Implications

Our results demonstrate the need for messaging related to wildlife reintroductions to be strategically tailored based on the audience, where specific attention should be paid to local community values and concerns.

Keywords: carnivores, communications, endangered species, message testing, perceptions, public support, red wolves, wildlife reintroduction.

References

Adkins C (2019) Return for America’s red wolves: a roadmap of reintroducing the nation’s most endangered mammal. Center for Biological Diversity.

Agan SW, Treves A, Willey LL (2021) Majority positive attitudes cannot protect red wolves (Canis rufus) from a minority willing to kill illegally. Biological Conservation 262, 109321.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Alaimo K, Olson CM, Frongillo EA (1999) Importance of cognitive testing for survey items: an example from food security questionnaires. Journal of Nutrition Education 31(5), 269-275.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Alston JM, Maitland BM, Brito BT, Esmaeili S, Ford AT, Hays B, Jesmer BR, Molina FJ, Goheen JR (2019) Reciprocity in restoration ecology: when might large carnivore reintroduction restore ecosystems? Biological Conservation 234, 82-89.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Barmoen M (2022) Obsessive about shades of grey: attitudes towards wolves and trust in large carnivore science. PhD Thesis, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway.

Bavin D, MacPherson J, Crowley SL, McDonald RA (2023) Stakeholder perspectives on the prospect of lynx Lynx lynx reintroduction in Scotland. People and Nature 5, 950-967.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Bennett JW (2017) ‘The ecological transition: cultural anthropology and human adaptation.’1st edn. (Routledge)

Bruskotter JT, Wilson RS (2014) Determining where the wild things will be: using psychological theory to find tolerance for large carnivores. Conservation Letters 7(3), 158-165.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Coz DM, Young JC (2020) Conflicts over wildlife conservation: learning from the reintroduction of beavers in Scotland. People and Nature 2(2), 406-419.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Data USA (2021) Arkansas. Available at https://datausa.io/ [Accessed 9 March 2024]

Deguchi T, Sato F, Eda M, Izumi H, Suzuki H, Suryan RM, Lance EW, Hasegawa H, Ozaki K (2017) Translocation and hand-rearing result in short-tailed albatrosses returning to breed in the Ogasawara Islands 80 years after extirpation. Animal Conservation 20(4), 341-349.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Dellinger JA, Proctor C, Steury TD, Kelly MJ, Vaughan MR (2013) Habitat selection of a large carnivore, the red wolf, in a human-altered landscape. Biological Conservation 157, 324-330.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

DeMars CE, Erwin TD (2005) Neutral or unsure: is there a difference. In ‘Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC’. James Madison University.

Ditmer MA, Niemiec RM, Wittemyer G, Crooks KR (2022) Socio-ecological drivers of public conservation voting: restoring gray wolves to Colorado, USA. Ecological Applications 32(3), e2532.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Draheim MM, Rockwood LL, Guagnano G, Parsons ECM (2011) The Impact of information on students’ beliefs and attitudes toward coyotes. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 16(1), 67-72.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Drenthen M (2022) Rewilding and the ethics of place. In ‘Routledge handbook of rewilding’. (Ed. M Drenthen) pp. 351–361. (Routledge)

Drouilly M, O’Riain MJ (2021) Rewilding the world’s large carnivores without neglecting the human dimension: a response to reintroducing the Eurasian lynx to southern Scotland, England and Wales. Biodiversity and Conservation 30, 917-923.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Espinosa-Molina M, Rodriguez-Jorquera IA, Beckmann V (2021) Effect and difference between the threatened and endemic status on the general public support towards wildlife species in a biodiversity hotspot. Biodiversity and Conservation 30, 3219-3241.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Fraune C, Knodt M (2018) Sustainable energy transformations in an age of populism, post-truth politics, and local resistance. Energy Research & Social Science 43, 1-7.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Gorard S (2013) ‘Research design: creating robust approaches for the social sciences.’ (Sage)

Gray TNE, Crouthers R, Ramesh K, Vattakaven J, Borah J, Pasha MKS, Lim T, Phan C, Singh R, Long B, Chapman S, Keo O, Baltzer M (2017) A framework for assessing readiness for tiger Panthera tigris reintroduction: a case study from eastern Cambodia. Biodiversity and Conservation 26(10), 2383-2399.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hinton JW, Chamberlain MJ, Rabon DR, Jr (2013) Red wolf (Canis rufus) recovery: a review with suggestions for future research. Animals 3(3), 722-744.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Hirose J, Kotani K, Nakagawa Y (2021) Is climate change induced by humans? The impact of the gap in perceptions on cooperation. Economics of Disasters and Climate Change 5, 391-413.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Højberg PL, Nielsen MR, Jacobsen JB (2017) Fear, economic consequences, hunting competition, and distrust of authorities determine preferences for illegal lethal actions against gray wolves (Canis lupus): a choice experiment among landowners in Jutland, Denmark. Crime, Law and Social Change 67, 461-480.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Hong Y, Hashimoto M (2023) I will get myself vaccinated for others: the interplay of message frame, reference point, and perceived risk on intention for COVID-19 vaccine. Health Communication 38(4), 813-823.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Huong PM, Lee J-H (2017) Finding important factors affecting local residents’ support for tourism development in Ba Be National Park, Vietnam. Forest Science and Technology 13(3), 126-132.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Iio M, Hamaguchi M, Narita M, Takenaka K, Ohya Y (2017) Tailored education to increase self-efficacy for caregivers of children with asthma. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing 35(1), 36-44.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

IUCNSSC (2013) ‘Guidelines for reintroductions and other conservation translocations.’ p. 57. (IUCNSSC Re-introduction Specialist Group: Gland, Switzerland, Cambridge, UK)

Jacobson SK (2009) ‘Communication skills for conservation professionals.’ (ProQuest Ebook Central)

Kansky R, Maassarani T (2022) Teaching nonviolent communication to increase empathy between people and toward wildlife to promote human–wildlife coexistence. Conservation Letters 15(1), e12862.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Landa A, Flagstad Ø, Areskoug V, Linnell JDC, Strand O, Ulvund KR, Thierry A-M, Rød-Eriksen L, Eide NE (2017) The endangered Arctic fox in Norway—the failure and success of captive breeding and reintroduction. Polar Research 36(sup1), 9.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Liang Y, Henderson LK, Kee KF (2018) Running out of water! Developing a message typology and evaluating message effects on attitude toward water conservation. Environmental Communication 12(4), 541-557.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mohai P (1992) Men, women, and the environment: an examination of the gender gap in environmental concern and activism. Society & Natural Resources 5(1), 1-19.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Niemiec R, Berl REW, Gonzalez M, Teel T, Camara C, Collins M, Salerno J, Crooks K, Schultz C, Breck S, Hoag D (2020) Public perspectives and media reporting of wolf reintroduction in Colorado. PeerJ 8, e9074.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

Novoa A, Dehnen-Schmutz K, Fried J, Vimercati G (2017) Does public awareness increase support for invasive species management? Promising evidence across taxa and landscape types. Biological Invasions 19(12), 3691-3705.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Reading R, Clark T (2019) Carnivore reintroductions: an interdisciplinary examination. In ‘Carnivore behavior, ecology, and evolution’. (Ed. J Gittleman) pp. 296–336. (Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY)

Roach MC, Thompson FR, III, Jones-Farrand T (2019) Effects of pine-oak woodland restoration on breeding bird densities in the Ozark-Ouachita Interior Highlands. Forest Ecology and Management 437, 443-459.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Slagle K, Zajac R, Bruskotter J, Wilson R, Prange S (2013) Building tolerance for bears: a communications experiment. The Journal of Wildlife Management 77, 863-869.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Stephenson SL, Adams HS, Huebner CD (2007) Upland forest vegetation of the Ozark Mountains in northwestern Arkansas. Rhodora 109(938), 197-221.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Thulin C-G, Röcklinsberg H (2020) Ethical considerations for wildlife reintroductions and rewilding. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 163.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |

US Census Bureau (2020) U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. Available at http://www.census.gov [Accessed 23 July 2023]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2023) Revised recovery plan for the red wolf (Canis rufus). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Accessed 23 June 2023]

US Forest Service (2014) Ozark-St. Francis National Forests. Forest Information. Available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/osfnf/about-forest/?cid=fsm8_042910 [Accessed 13 March 2024]

Vandel J-M, Stahl P, Herrenschmidt V, Marboutin E (2006) Reintroduction of the lynx into the Vosges mountain massif: from animal survival and movements to population development. Biological Conservation 131(3), 370-385.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

VanderWeele TJ, Mathur MB (2019) Some desirable properties of the Bonferroni correction: is the Bonferroni correction really so bad? American Journal of Epidemiology 188(3), 617-618.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Waddell W, Rabon DJ (2012) Extirpated in the wild: recovering the red wolf. World Association of Zoos and Aquariums 13, 22-24.
| Google Scholar |

Watkins CE, Poudyal NC, Jones RE, Muller LI, Hodges DG (2021) Risk perception, trust and support for wildlife reintroduction and conservation. Environmental Conservation 48(2), 127-135.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |