The Residents' Awareness of Wildlife Problems in Non-agricultural Areas

:An Approach Based on the Concept of "Symbiosis"

Abstract

Although many of the existing studies on wildlife problems aim at how to alleviate damage to human beings by wildlife, residents in agricultural area tend to allow the existence of wildlife. In recent years wildlife problems are becoming manifest in non-agricultural areas such as cities and suburbs, so it is important to clarify what kind of consciousness the residents in non-agricultural areas have on wildlife problems. This is because residents in non-agricultural areas may reconsider not only how to relate to wildlife but also how to relate to nature and agricultural areas by seeing the wildlife problems as opportunities. In this research, we aim to clarify the residents' conscious structure on wildlife problem in non-agricultural areas. As a viewpoint to grasp the relationship between human and wildlife, we adopt the concept of "symbiosis". This is because by using this concept we can understand the phenomenon that residents tend to permit wildlife to live in their living environment (so the wildlife become symbiotic) because the wildlife is 'load' for them. Analysis models incorporating the concepts of "load" "symbiosis" was constructed. To verify these analysis models, a questionnaire survey was conducted to ask residents in the suburbs of Sendai City how they think about wildlife problems. As a result, the following tendencies are clarified: 1. people who have witnessed wildlife tend to permit wildlife to live in their living environment; 2. people who have tolerant attitude toward wildlife tend to evaluate habitat management for wildlife as a measure against wildlife. The latter tendency can be interpreted that habitat management for wildlife is symbiotic measure, so people who can permit wildlife to live in their living environment tend to prefer this measure.