Traditional cultural beliefs influence perceptions of animals and can result in persecution of wildlife. In Africa, stigmas against species associated with witchcraft can act as a barrier to the uptake of sustainable practices such as reducing crop damage through reliance on indigenous predators rather than pesticides to control rodent agricultural pests. One way of enhancing perceptions of wildlife to increase participation in ecologically based rodent management schemes is through environmental education. Low-intensity programs can produce positive attitudinal shifts, but their impact has not been assessed for species strongly associated with witchcraft. We tested whether a presentation on the natural history of owls in the Limpopo Province of South Africa could improve perceptions of these species and increase willingness to participate in the installation of owl boxes to increase owl populations and reduce rodent populations and crop damage. We used a pre- and post-survey to assess the perceptions of owls of 340 learners aged between 12 and 18 in four schools before and after listening to the presentation. Respondents that watched the presentation had more positive perceptions of owls than those that had not watched the presentation and were more willing to put up owl boxes near their home. Despite this shift, negative perceptions of owls still dominated responses due to cultural associations with the occult. These findings indicate that even low-intensity programs can be effective at enhancing perceptions of taboo wildlife. We suggest that environmental education programs featuring culturally taboo species should adopt a culturally sensitive approach to focus on the benefits these species provide.

中文翻译：

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低强度的环境教育可以增强对文化禁忌野生动物的认识

传统文化信仰会影响对动物的看法，并可能导致对野生动物的迫害。在非洲，对与巫术有关的物种的污名可能成为采用可持续做法的障碍，例如通过依赖本地捕食者而不是杀虫剂来控制啮齿动物农业害虫来减少作物损害。增强对野生动物的认识以增加对基于生态的啮齿动物管理计划的参与的一种方法是通过环境教育。低强度计划可以产生积极的态度转变，但尚未对与巫术密切相关的物种的影响进行评估。我们测试了关于南非林波波省猫头鹰自然历史的介绍是否可以提高对这些物种的认识，并增加参与安装猫头鹰箱以增加猫头鹰种群和减少啮齿动物种群和作物损失的意愿。我们使用前后调查来评估四所学校 340 名年龄在 12 至 18 岁之间的学习者在听完演讲前后对猫头鹰的看法。观看演示的受访者比未观看演示的受访者对猫头鹰有更积极的看法，并且更愿意在家附近放置猫头鹰箱。尽管有这种转变，但由于与神秘学的文化联系，对猫头鹰的负面看法仍然占主导地位。这些发现表明，即使是低强度的计划也可以有效地增强对禁忌野生动物的认识。我们建议以文化禁忌物种为特色的环境教育计划应采用对文化敏感的方法来关注这些物种提供的好处。