Factors Influencing The Social Acceptability Of Large Carnivore Behaviors
This research examined the attitudes of Norwegians toward large carnivores living in the wilderness close to where people live and found large differences in acceptance across five different situations; wolves and bears were less socially accepted than lynx and wolverines.
In general, older people, women, those with lower levels of education, rural residents, and people who have suffered economic loss due to carnivores had more negative attitudes toward wildlife species than others. People appear to have a lower acceptance of larger carnivores including wolves and bears, although distance also had a clear effect on attitudes; people were more accepting of animals when they lived a greater distance away from them.
The results of this study imply that because people have different attitudes toward different species, large carnivores should not be managed as a single species. Wolves and bears induce more fear and are seen as potentially more harmful than lynx or wolverine. For this reason, well formulated and targeted information can have a positive effect on the population because at least a portion of related fear is attributable to lack of knowledge about these animals.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/g85304l655346760/