Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T09:18:21.465Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

How children in northern Canada represent the wolverine through drawings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2020

Morgane Bonamy Open the ORCID record for Morgane Bonamy [Opens in a new window] ,
Andrew Blair Harbicht  and
Thora Martina Herrmann
Morgane Bonamy*
Affiliation:
Departement de géographie, Université de Montréal, CP6128 Succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC, H2V2B8, Canada
Andrew Blair Harbicht
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental and Life Sciences/Biology, Karlstad University, 651 88Karlstad, Sweden
Thora Martina Herrmann
Affiliation:
ICM-Indigenous Culture & Media Innovations, P.O. Box 67107, Ottawa, ON, K2A 4E4, Canada
*
Author for correspondence: Morgane Bonamy, Email: morgane.bon@netcourrier.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study explores the perception of wolverines, a carnivore in decline, by youths in northern Canada, the future generation of stakeholders. To accomplish this, we analysed 165 drawings from children and 22 interviews with Indigenous adults in the Northwest Territories and Quebec. Overall, children primarily drew wolverines in healthy environments, with only a minority depicting the wolverine’s environment negatively. All children demonstrated a basic understanding of the wolverine’s physical appearance and biology/ecology, with few differences in how the wolverine was depicted among the different research areas. Among interviewed adults, the ecological role played by wolverines was less prominent among the themes explored by Naskapi participants than was their role as a thief or pest, when contrasted to Dene participants. These results indicate that information about wolverine habitat or biology is still being acquired by children in areas where wolverines are extirpated, but that a lack of exposure to this species may negatively influence children’s understanding of its ecological role. These results suggest that informing the public about this carnivore’s ecological role may improve public support and, therefore, the likelihood of successful conservation programmes.

Keywords

WolverineDrawingSocial representationChildrenCanada
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 56 , 2020 , e31
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banci, V. A. (1994). Chapitre 5 - Wolverine. In Ruggiero, W. J., Leonard, F., Aubry, K. B., Buskirk, S. W., Lyon, L., & Zielinski, J. (Eds.), The scientific basis for conserving forest carnivores: American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine in the western United States (pp. 99–127). Victoria, BC: Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station.Google Scholar
Ballantyne, R., Hughes, K., Lee, J., Packer, J., & Sneddon, J. (2018). Visitors’ values and environmental learning outcomes at wildlife attractions: Implications for interpretive practice. Tourism Management, 64, 190–201. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.07.015 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barraza, L. (1999). Children’s drawings about the environment. Environmental Education Research, 5(1), 49–66. doi: 10.1080/1350462990050103 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, P. (2009). Learning and Inuit knowledge in Nunavut, Canada. In Bates, P., & Chiba, M. (Eds.), UNESCO, 2009, Learning and knowing in indigenous societies today (pp. 95–105). UNESCO.Google Scholar
Bjerke, T., Ødegårdstuen, T. S., & Kaltenborn, B. P. (1998). Attitudes toward animals among Norwegian children and adolescents: Species preferences. Anthrozoos, 11(4), 227–235. doi: 10.2752/089279398787000544 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonamy, M., Harbicht, A. B., Herrmann, T. M., & Gagnon, C. (2019a). Public opinion toward a misunderstood predator: What do people really know about wolverines and can educational programs promote its conservation? Ecoscience, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonamy, M., Herrmann, T. M., & Harbicht, A. B. (2019b). ‘I think it is the toughest animal in the North’: human-wolverine interactions among hunters and trappers in the Canadian Northwest Territories. Polar Geography, 43(1), 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boya-Busquet, M. (2008). Rapport à la nature et stratégies intégrées de conservation et développement: Le cas de São Tomé et Principe. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304810353?accountid=9851http://tf5lu9ym5n.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/ProQuest+Dissertations+%2526+Theses+A%2526I&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:disserta Google Scholar
Brock, A. (2016). Wolverine sighting causes partial lockdown at Yellowknife middle school. Retrieved April 2, 2017, from http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/north/wolverine-lockdown-yellowknife-middle-school-1.3865011 Google Scholar
Brown, J. M., Henderson, J., & Armstrong, M. P. (1987). Children’s perceptions of nuclear power stations as revealed through their drawings. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 7(3). doi: 10.1016/S0272-4944(87)80029-4 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, D. W. (1983). Stereotypic images of the scientist: the draw-a-scientist test. Science Education, 67(2), 255–265. doi: 10.1002/sce.3730670213 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copeland, J. P. (1996). Biology of the Wolverine in Central Idaho. University of Idaho.Google Scholar
COSEWIC. (2014). COSEWIC assessment and status report on the wolverine Gulo gulo in Canada. Ottawa. Retrieved from http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/cosewic/sr_wolverine_e.pdf Google Scholar
Dai, A. (2017). Learning from children’s drawings of nature. In Katz, P. (Ed.), Drawing for science education (pp. 73–86). Rotterdam: Sense publishers.Google Scholar
Dayer, A. A., Stinchfield, H. M., & Manfredo, M. J. (2007). Stories about wildlife: developing an instrument for identifying wildlife value orientations cross-culturally. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 12(5), 307–315. doi: 10.1080/10871200701555410 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Decker, D. J., Lauber, T. B., & William, F. S. (2002 ). Human-Wildlife Conflict Management: A Practitioner’s Guide. Northeast Wildlife Damage agement Research and Outreach Cooperative. Human dimensions research Unit. Ithaca.Google Scholar
Devitt, A. L., & Schacter, D. L. (2016). False memories with age: Neural and cognitive underpinnings. Neuropsychologia, 91, 346–359. doi: CCM.0b013e31823da96d.Hydrogen CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eagles, P. F., & Muffit, S. (1990). An analysis of children’s attitudes toward animals. Journal of Environmental Education, 21(3), 41–44. doi: 10.1080/00958964.1990.10753747 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehrlén, K. (2008). Drawings as representations of children’s conceptions. International Journal of Science Education, 31(1), 41–57. doi: 10.1080/09500690701630455 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eloranta, V., & Yli-panula, E. (2005). Animals in the landscape drawings of Finnish and Russian young people – in the landscape they want to conserve. NorDiNa, 2(5), 5–17.Google Scholar
Environment Canada. (2016). Recovery strategy for the Wolverine (Gulo gulo), Eastern population, in Canada. Ottawa.Google Scholar
Fortin, C., Banci, V. A., Brazil, J., Crête, M., Huot, J., Michel, H., … Vandal, D. (2005). Plan national de rétablissement du Carcajou (Gulo gulo) [Population de l’Est].Google Scholar
Gallant, D., Gauvin, L. Y., Berteaux, D., & Lecomte, N. (2016). The importance of data mining for conservation science: A case study on the wolverine. Biodiversity and Conservation, 25(13), 2629–2639. doi: 10.1007/s10531-016-1188-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garibaldi, A., & Turner, N. J. (2004). Cultural keystone species: Implications for ecological conservation and restoration. Ecology and Society, 9(3), 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grieve, R., & Hughes, M. (1990). Children’s awareness. In Grieve, R. and Hughes, M. (Eds.) Understanding children. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Gusset, M., Swarner, M.J., Mponwane, L., Keletile, K, & McNutt, J. W. (2009). Human-wildlife conflict in northern Botswana: Livestock predation by endangered African wild dog Lycaon pictus and other carnivores. Oryx, 43, 67–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinemeyer, K., Squires, J., Hebblewhite, M., O’Keefe, J. J., Holbrook, J. D., & Copeland, J. P. (2019). Wolverines in winter: Indirect habitat loss and functional responses to backcountry recreation. Ecosphere, 10(2). doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2611 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrmann, T. M., Schüttler, E., Benavides, P., Galvez, N., Sohn, L., & Palomo, N. (2013). Values, animal symbolism, and human-animal relationships associated to two threatened felids in Mapuche and Chilean local narratives. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedecine, 9, 1–15. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-9-41 Google ScholarPubMed
Hsieh, W.-M., & Tsai, C.-C. (2017). Exploring students’ conceptions of science learning via drawing: a cross-sectional analysis. International Journal of Science Education, 1–25. doi: 10.1080/09500693.2017.1280640 Google Scholar
Jacobs, M. H., Vaske, J. J., Teel, T. L., & Manfredo, M. J. (2018). Human dimensions of wildlife. Environmental Psychology: An Introduction, 85–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kansky, R., & Knight, A. T. (2014). Key factors driving attitudes towards large mammals in conflict with human. Biological Conservation, 179, 93–105. doi: 2014.09.008 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, P. (2017). Drawing for science education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. doi: 10.1007/978-94-6300-875-4 Google Scholar
Kellert, S. R., & Westervelt, M. O. (1984). Children’s attitudes, knowledge and behaviors towards animals. Children’s Environments Quaterly, 1(3), 8–11.Google Scholar
King, D. (1995). Doing Their Share to Save the Planet: Children and the Environmental Crisis. Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Kukka, P. M., & Jung, T. S. (2016). Wolverine Carcass Collection Program: 2013–2014 Annual Report. Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada.Google Scholar
Kvam, T., Overskaug, K., & Sørensen, O. (1988). The wolverine Gulo gulo in Norway. Lutra, 31, 7–20.Google Scholar
L’Hérault. (2018). Niche alimentaire et écologie du loup et du carcajou dans l’arctique canadien : des analyses isotopiques au savoir inuit. Université du Quebec à Rimouski.Google Scholar
Lescureux, N., Linnelle, J. D. C., Mustafa, S., Melovski, D., Stojanov, A., Ivanov, G., … Breitenmoser, U. (2011). Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in western Macedonia. Oryx, 45(4), 600–607. doi: 10.1017/S0030605310001547 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucherini, M., & Merino, M.J. (2008). Perceptions of human-carnivore conflicts in the high Andes of Argentina. Mountain Research and Development, 28, 81–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mannelqvist, R. (2010). Humans Attitudes Toward Large Carnivores: Bear, Wolf, Lynx and Wolverine. University of Umea.Google Scholar
Marquis, G. (2001). Les représentations sociales de l’environnement: une comparaison des jeunes du Québec et du Sénégal. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 6, 158–177.Google Scholar
Moore, P., & Wheelock, A. (1990). Wolverine Myths and Visions: Dene Traditions from Northern Alberta. Edmonton: University of Alberta.Google Scholar
Mulders, R. (2001). Wolverine ecology, distribution and productivity in a tundra environment. Final report to the West Kitikmeot/ Slave Study Society. Retrieved from https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/enr/files/wkss_wolverine_ecology_final_report_2001.pdf Google Scholar
Münchhausen, H. F. V., & Herrmann, M. J., (2008). Public perception of large carnivores: A German Survey before and after “Bruno”. Coexistence of Large Carnivores and Humans: Threat or Benefit?, 5.Google Scholar
Myers, O. E., Saunders, C. D., Garett, E., & Erik, G. (2003). What do children think animals need? aesthetic and psycho-social conceptions. Environmental Education Research, 9(3), 305–325. doi: 10.1080/1350462032000093165 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyhus, P. J. (2016). Human–wildlife conflict and coexistence. The Annual Review of Environement and Resources, 41, 143–164. doi: 10.1146/ 110615-085634 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peastitute, J. (2013). Kuihkwahchaw, Naskapi Wolverine legends. Québec: The Naskapi Development Coporation.Google Scholar
Ruggiero, L. F., McKelvey, K. S., Aubry, K. B., Copeland, J. P., Pletscher, D. H., & Hornocker, M. G. (2007). Wolverine conservation and agement. Journal of Wildlife management, 71(7), 2145–2146. doi: 10.2193/2007-217 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savard, R. (1971). Carcajou et le sens du monde: récits montagnais-naskapi (Vol. 3). Montreal: Québec: Ministère des affaires culturelles du Québec.Google Scholar
Scrafford, M. A., Avgar, T., Heeres, R., & Boyce, M. S. (2018). Roads elicit negative movement and habitat-selection responses by wolverines (Gulo gulo luscus). Behavioral Ecology, 29(3), 534–542. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arx182 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skogen, K., Mauz, I., & Krange, O. (2008). Cry Wolf! Narratives of wolf recovery in France and Norway. Rural Sociology, 73(1), 105–133. doi: 10.1526/003601108783575916 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slough, B. G. (2007). Status of the Wolverine Gulo Gulo in Canada. Wildlife Biology, 13(2003), 76–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Species at Risk Committee. 2014. Species status report for wolverine (Gulo gulo) in the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife: Species at Risk Committee, Government of the Northwest Territories. Retrieved from https://www.nwtspeciesatrisk.ca/sites/default/files/wolverine_status_report_and_assessment_final_dec_2014_v2.pdf Google Scholar
Stokas, D., Strezou, E., Malandrakis, G., & Papadopoulou, P. (2016). Greek primary school children’s representations of the urban environment as seen through their drawings. Environmental Education Research, 1–27. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2016.1219316 Google Scholar
Thomas, G. V, & Silk, A. M. (1990). An Introduction to the Psychology of Children’s Drawings. New York: University Press.Google Scholar
Villarroel, J. D., Antón, A., Zuazagoitia, D., & Nuño, T. (2018). A study on the spontaneous representation of animals in young children’s drawings of plant life. Sustainability, 10(4), 1–11. doi: 10.3390/10041000 Google Scholar
Wallon, P. (2001). Le dessin d’enfant. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Weaver, J. L., Paquet, P. C., & Ruggiero, L. F. (1996). Resilience and conservation of large carnivores in the Rocky Mountains. Society for Conservation Biology, 10(4), 964–976. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10040964.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodford, R. (2014, December). Wolverines: Behind the Myth . Alaska Fish and Wildlife News, Retrieved from http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=692 Google Scholar
Woodroffe, R., Thirgood, S., & Rabinowitz, A. (2005). People and Wildlife: Conflict or Coexistence? UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Bonamy et al. supplementary material

Bonamy et al. supplementary material

Download Bonamy et al. supplementary material(File)
File 24.5 KB