ABSTRACT Globally, the number of humans and wildlife species sharing urban spaces continues to grow. As these populations grow, so too does the frequency of human–wildlife interactions in urban areas. Carnivores in particular pose urban wildlife conservation challenges owing to the strong emotions they elicit and the potential threats they can present to humans. These challenges can be better addressed with an understanding of the different factors that influence public perceptions of carnivores and their management. We conducted mail surveys in four cities in North Carolina (n =721) to explore how (a) city of residence, (b) affectual connections to coyotes (Canis latrans), and (c) biological knowledge predicted perceptions of the danger posed by coyotes, the support for wild coyotes living nearby, and the support for lethal coyote removal methods. Our results provide the first assessment of how public perceptions of carnivores and their management vary between cities of different types. Residents from a tourism-driven city were more supportive of coyotes than residents from an industrial city and less concerned about risk than residents from a commercial city. We found affectual connection to coyotes and city of residence were consistent predictors of coyote perceptions. Respondents’ knowledge of coyote biology was not a significant predictor of any perceptions of coyotes despite the relatively high statistical power of the tests. Affectual connection to coyotes had the greatest effect on predicting coyote perceptions, suggesting efforts to promote positive emotional connections to wildlife may be a better way to increase acceptance of carnivores in urban areas than focusing on biological knowledge.

中文翻译：

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城市身份、影响和知识如何预测对郊狼及其管理的看法

摘要 在全球范围内，共享城市空间的人类和野生动物物种数量持续增长。随着这些人口的增长，城市地区人类与野生动物互动的频率也在增加。食肉动物尤其对城市野生动物保护构成挑战，因为它们会引发强烈的情绪以及它们可能对人类构成的潜在威胁。通过了解影响公众对食肉动物及其管理的看法的不同因素，可以更好地应对这些挑战。我们在北卡罗来纳州的四个城市 (n = 721) 进行了邮件调查，以探索 (a) 居住城市，(b) 与土狼 (Canis latrans) 的情感联系，以及 (c) 生物知识如何预测对土狼，对生活在附近的野生土狼的支持，以及对致命土狼清除方法的支持。我们的结果首次评估了公众对食肉动物的看法及其管理在不同类型城市之间的差异。与来自工业城市的居民相比，来自旅游驱动型城市的居民更支持土狼，而与来自商业城市的居民相比，对风险的担忧更少。我们发现与土狼和居住城市的情感联系是土狼感知的一致预测因素。尽管测试的统计能力相对较高，但受访者对土狼生物学的了解并不是对土狼任何看法的重要预测因素。与土狼的情感联系对预测土狼感知的影响最大，