Wilson, S.; Campera, M. The Perspectives of Key Stakeholders on the Reintroduction of Apex Predators to the United Kingdom. Ecologies2024, 5, 52-67.
Wilson, S.; Campera, M. The Perspectives of Key Stakeholders on the Reintroduction of Apex Predators to the United Kingdom. Ecologies 2024, 5, 52-67.
Wilson, S.; Campera, M. The Perspectives of Key Stakeholders on the Reintroduction of Apex Predators to the United Kingdom. Ecologies2024, 5, 52-67.
Wilson, S.; Campera, M. The Perspectives of Key Stakeholders on the Reintroduction of Apex Predators to the United Kingdom. Ecologies 2024, 5, 52-67.
Abstract
Apex predators were extirpated from the UK hundreds of years ago. Practitioners have recently advocated for reintroductions of predators in the UK given their role as keystone species. For a reintroduction to take place, a survey of public desirability needs to be conducted. We aimed to understand the perspectives of people across the United Kingdom on the reintroduction of Eurasian lynxes, grey wolves, and brown bears. We collected data via questionnaires from 78 key stakeholders, such as farmers, general public, nature conservationists, and those in environmental sectors, with these areas being seen as the most affected by these reintroductions. It was organizations which front these stakeholder groups which mainly distributed the survey, as well as social media groups. We ran a path analysis, which highlighted that there was a negative correlation between respondents viewing the species as a danger towards livestock and humans, and the respondent seeing it being good to have that species in their region. Overall, participants who stated that rewilding their region was a priority also stated that it would be good to have Eurasian lynx in their region. That said, 70% of farmers strongly disagreed with the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx. These findings showed that much of the United Kingdom would welcome the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx, but both farmers and the public would fear the loss of livestock that may come along with these species. Support can be gained through education and knowledge, a necessary step needed especially targeting farmers before any reintroduction plans can be made.
Keywords
rewilding; wolf; bear; lynx; farmers; attitudes; public opinion; attitudes; deer
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Other
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
