ABSTRACT

We evaluated local communities’ fear of wolves in a scenario of wolf attacks on people and livestock in Western Iran. In particular, we investigated the interaction between experiences of wolf attacks (both on people and livestock) and three factors: behavioral action (management action, e.g., livestock carcass management), religious (e.g., the belief that wolves can be a curse if harmed by humans), and cultural norms (e.g., village elders have taught their children not to kill or harm wolves). We surveyed 400 randomly chosen households throughout the villages located in Hamadan province, Iran. Participants (mean age = 48.5 years) reported experiences of wolf attacks on people and on livestock in 40% and 60% of interviews, respectively. The majority of the respondents were afraid of seeing a wolf in the wild (66.5%). The majority of interviewees abandoned their livestock carcasses near agricultural lands, rangelands, and rural areas. Our results suggest that cultural factors play an active role in allaying fear of wolves, and this influence occurs regardless of having or not having experiences of wolf attacks. However, experiences of wolf–livestock attacks did not have a meaningful role in decreasing or increasing the effect of culture, religion, and behavior on fear. Efforts to reduce human fear of wolves should consider minimizing risky encounters for people, particularly focusing on unsupervised children (<12 years old). Training programs on how to properly handle livestock carcasses (e.g., appropriate methods of disposal and not abandoning livestock carcasses close to human settlements) may reduce the frequency of wolf attacks.

摘要

我们在伊朗西部发生狼群袭击人和牲畜的情况下，评估了当地社区对狼的恐惧。特别是，我们调查了狼袭击（对人和牲畜）的经历与以下三个因素之间的相互作用：行为行为（管理行为，例如牲畜car体管理），宗教行为（例如，认为狼受到伤害会成为诅咒的信念）以及人类的文化规范（例如，乡村长者教他们的孩子不要杀死或伤害狼）。我们对位于伊朗哈马丹省的所有村庄中的400个随机选择的家庭进行了调查。参与者（平均年龄= 48.5岁）分别在40％和60％的访谈中报告了狼群袭击人和牲畜的经历。大多数受访者担心在野外见到狼（66.5％）。大多数受访者将牲畜尸体遗弃在农田，牧场和农村地区附近。我们的结果表明，文化因素在减轻对狼的恐惧中起着积极作用，并且无论是否有过狼袭击的经历，这种影响都会发生。但是，狼-牲畜袭击的经历在减少或增加文化，宗教和行为对恐惧的影响方面没有起到有意义的作用。减少人类对狼的恐惧的努力应考虑将人们的危险接触减至最少，尤其是针对无人看管的儿童（<12岁）。有关如何正确处理牲畜尸体的培训计划（例如，适当的处置方法和不丢弃靠近人类住区的牲畜尸体）可以减少狼袭击的频率。