兵庫県但馬地方におけるツキノワグマに関する住民意識調査 : 政策・対策に反映させるための意識調査の設計及び実施

抄録

Human dimensions of wildlife management is an academic field developed in the United States, and aims to provide the information that will improve the decision-making in the management process. Based on the idea and methods of human-dimensions studies, we conducted a survey to understand residents' behaviors and attitudes regarding Asiatic black bears Ursus thibetanus in Hyogo Prefecture. The objective of this study was to collect the data applicable for making policy recommendation to decrease the human-bear conflicts. Two thousand three hundred sixteen questionnaires were distributed to households in Tanto and Kami town which resulted in 1,209 responses (response rate = 52.2%). While the majority of residents in Kami town either reported sightings of bears or conducted interventions to prevent damage, only the minority in Tanto conducted such behaviors. Residents' preference of management responses (e.g., leave the bear, capture the bear, destroy the bear) varied when bears just appeared near the town, but became uniform when bears caused damages, mostly preferring to kill those bears. These findings can help wildlife managers understand the effect of previous outreach programs in fostering residents' behaviors, and set practical and measurable goals for the future planning.