Suchergebnisse

Large carnivore attacks on humans are increasing globally in the last decades. The expansion of human population and activities in areas inhabited by large carnivores, together with the recovery which several of these species are undergoing, increases the probability of risky encounters, some of which end with the death of people or/and the carnivores involved. Since this type of human-wildlife conflict affects both humans and large carnivores, gaining a deep knowledge of the scenarios in which these attacks have occurred, as well as of the factors that might have triggered them, has a double positive effect. Indeed, reducing the number of attacks will not only increase human safety, but it will also benefit large carnivore conservation. After an attack, indeed, one or more individuals of the species are lethally removed. Moreover, each attack generally generates lasting media attention, which often overplays the facts, consequently causing increased negative public attitudes towards these species. Thus, because public opinion has become crucial in political decisions, large carnivore conservation is highly influenced by public perception and the media. Although some studies exist on attacks on humans by single large carnivore species, the recent increase in the number of attacks by all species of large carnivores in many areas highlights the need for a comprehensive approach including all large carnivore species and a wide geographical area. Our aim is to broaden the knowledge of this phenomenon by analysing and comparing scenarios of large carnivore attacks on humans worldwide. Specifically, we collected attack reports and analysed factors related to (a) carnivore and human characteristics (e.g., species, population density, age, sex); (b) temporal patterns at different scales (i.e., circadian, seasonal, annual); (c) features of the attack location (e.g., natural vs. urban areas, presence of protected areas and their proximity to human developments); (d) characteristics of the geographical region where the attacks occurred (e.g., economic development of the local population, types of recreational and agropastoral activities) to try identifying potential factors and provide solutions to this issue both at a global and local scale. So far, main results of our research are: (1) about half of the attacks occurred in North America and Europe in the last decades involved risky human behaviours, such as leaving children unattended and walking an unleashed dog; (2) people in a group were less vulnerable to an attack than a person alone. In North-American urban areas, (3) dogs were involved in almost half of the attacks and (4) certain landscape characteristics (e.g., vegetation cover) may be important factors in the occurrence of an attack. These results suggest that human behaviour plays a key role in the occurrence of such incidents both outside and inside urban areas and that further research is needed to investigate the role of other factors. ; peerReviewed

The Internet and social media have profoundly changed the way the public receives and transmits news. The ability of the web to quickly disperse information both geographically and temporally allows social media to reach a much wider audience compared to traditional mass media. A powerful role is played by sharing, as millions of people routinely share news on social media platforms, influencing each other by transmitting their mood and feelings to others through emotional contagion. Thus, social media has become crucial in driving public perception and opinion. Humans have an instinctive fear of large carnivores, but such a negative attitude may be amplified by news media presentations and their diffusion on social media. Here, we investigated how reports of predator attacks on humans published in online newspapers spread on social media. By means of multi-model inference, we explored the contribution of four factors in driving the number of total shares (NTS) of news reports on social media: the graphic/sensationalistic content, the presence of images, the species, as well as the newspaper coverage. According to our results, the information delivered by social media is highly biased toward a graphic/sensationalistic view of predators. Thus, such negative coverage might lead to an unjustified and amplified fear in the public with consequent lower tolerance toward predators and decrease in the support for conservation plans. However, because social media represents a powerful communication tool, its role might be reversed to positive if used appropriately. Thus, constant engagement of scientists on social media would be needed to both disseminate more accurate information on large carnivores and stem the tide of misinformation before its widespread diffusion, a crucial step for effective predator conservation. ; VP was financially supported by the Excellence Project CGL2017-82782-P financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, EU). VP was also funded by a GRUPIN research grant from the Regional Government of Asturias (Ref.: IDI/2018/000151). GB was financially supported by a collaboration contract with the MUSE–Museo delle Scienze of Trento (Italy). ; Peer reviewed

Mountain regions are globally important areas for biodiversity but are subject to multiple human-induced threats, including climate change, which has been more severe at higher elevations. We reviewed evidence for impacts of climate change on Holarctic mountain bird populations in terms of physiology, phenology, trophic interactions, demography and observed and projected distribution shifts, including effects of other factors that interact with climate change. We developed an objective classification of high-elevation, mountain specialist and generalist species, based on the proportion oftheir breeding range occurring in mountain regions. Our review found evidence of responses of mountain bird populations to climate (extreme weather events, temperature, rainfall and snow) and environmental (i.e. land use) change, but we know little about either the underlying mechanisms or the synergistic effects of climate and land use. Long-term studies assessing reproductive success or survival of mountain birds in relation to climate change were rare. Few studies have considered shifts in elevational distribution over time and a meta-analysis did not find a consistent direction in elevation change. A meta-analysis carried out on future projections of distribution shifts suggested that birds whose breeding distributions are largely restricted to mountains are likely to be more negatively impacted than other species. Adaptation responses to climate change rely mostly on managing and extending current protected areas for both species already present, and for expected colonizing species that are losing habitat and climate space at lower elevation. However, developing effective management actions requires an improvement in the current knowledge of mountain species ecology, in the quality of climate data and in understanding the role of interacting factors. Furthermore, the evidence was mostly based on widespread species rather than mountain specialists. Scientists should provide valuable tools to assess the status of mountain birds, for example through the development of a mountain bird population index, and policy-makers should influence legislation to develop efficient agri-environment schemes and forestry practices for mountain birds, as well as to regulate leisure activities at higher elevations. ; Peer reviewed