知床ウトロ学校におけるヒグマ授業発展の経緯と現状：関係者への聞き取りと生徒への意識調査より

抄録

 Human-bear conflicts have been serious issues in Japan, and the highest number of bears were captured and number of casualties were also the highest on the record in the fiscal year of 2023. In Shiretoko, Hokkaido, where around 15,000 residents live and more than 1.7 million tourists visit, there have been no citizen casualties by bear attacks recorded. In this research, we studied how the brown bear education program started in Shiretoko Utoro school as well as potential impacts of the program toward students. Interviews toward the personnel who were involved in developing the bear education program nearly 20 years ago revealed that the program was introduced as a part of school curriculum through collaboration with Shari town, Shiretoko Nature Foundation, and Shiretoko Utoro school. Survey revealed that while majority of students have seen wild bears in their daily lives, the higher graders tend to have more knowledge about bears as well as higher tolerance toward bears. This research identified not only how the bear education program was developed in Shiretoko but also potential impacts generated by such program toward students as well as residents.