Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range
Effective conservation of large mammals depends on how people perceive them. Grey wolves have a widespread distribution globally, and their recent recolonization of human-dominated landscapes offers an excellent opportunity to understand the heterogeneity in their perception across continents. Our a...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/9/1196 |
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| author | Dipanjan Naha Stefanie Döringer Marco Heurich |
| author_facet | Dipanjan Naha Stefanie Döringer Marco Heurich |
| author_sort | Dipanjan Naha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Effective conservation of large mammals depends on how people perceive them. Grey wolves have a widespread distribution globally, and their recent recolonization of human-dominated landscapes offers an excellent opportunity to understand the heterogeneity in their perception across continents. Our analysis included all quantitative studies (118 articles) conducted in 35 countries through a systematic review process, published globally between 1980–2023 and indexed in Web of Science and Google Scholar. Fifty-four percent of the studies reported a negative perception toward wolves. Most studies conducted in Asia reported a negative perception, while 56% of studies conducted in Europe and 48% in North America reported a positive perception. Fifty-four percent of studies from Western Europe and forty percent of studies from Slavic Russian cultural regions reported positive perceptions. Respondents from low-income countries elicited the most negative perceptions. We identified the predominant religion and economic status of a country as dominant factors determining perception. Studies conducted in countries with Hinduism as the predominant religion reported a negative perception toward wolves. We recommend that future studies on human–wolf interactions must prioritize regions within central Europe, parts of Asia, and Russia. A global human–wolf coexistence strategy should consider the social factors driving attitude toward the species. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-64e6b26c5a3249899d1550aedef9eb96 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj-art-64e6b26c5a3249899d1550aedef9eb962025-08-20T03:52:57ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-04-01159119610.3390/ani15091196Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution RangeDipanjan Naha0Stefanie Döringer1Marco Heurich2Independent Researcher, Kolkata 700047, IndiaDepartment of National Park Monitoring and Animal Management, Bavarian Forest National Park, FreyungerStraße, 94481 Grafenau, GermanyDepartment of National Park Monitoring and Animal Management, Bavarian Forest National Park, FreyungerStraße, 94481 Grafenau, GermanyEffective conservation of large mammals depends on how people perceive them. Grey wolves have a widespread distribution globally, and their recent recolonization of human-dominated landscapes offers an excellent opportunity to understand the heterogeneity in their perception across continents. Our analysis included all quantitative studies (118 articles) conducted in 35 countries through a systematic review process, published globally between 1980–2023 and indexed in Web of Science and Google Scholar. Fifty-four percent of the studies reported a negative perception toward wolves. Most studies conducted in Asia reported a negative perception, while 56% of studies conducted in Europe and 48% in North America reported a positive perception. Fifty-four percent of studies from Western Europe and forty percent of studies from Slavic Russian cultural regions reported positive perceptions. Respondents from low-income countries elicited the most negative perceptions. We identified the predominant religion and economic status of a country as dominant factors determining perception. Studies conducted in countries with Hinduism as the predominant religion reported a negative perception toward wolves. We recommend that future studies on human–wolf interactions must prioritize regions within central Europe, parts of Asia, and Russia. A global human–wolf coexistence strategy should consider the social factors driving attitude toward the species.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/9/1196attitudecarnivorecoexistencesocial driversreviewtolerance |
| spellingShingle | Dipanjan Naha Stefanie Döringer Marco Heurich Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range Animals attitude carnivore coexistence social drivers review tolerance |
| title | Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range |
| title_full | Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range |
| title_fullStr | Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range |
| title_full_unstemmed | Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range |
| title_short | Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range |
| title_sort | perception toward wolves are driven by economic status and religion across their distribution range |
| topic | attitude carnivore coexistence social drivers review tolerance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/9/1196 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dipanjannaha perceptiontowardwolvesaredrivenbyeconomicstatusandreligionacrosstheirdistributionrange AT stefaniedoringer perceptiontowardwolvesaredrivenbyeconomicstatusandreligionacrosstheirdistributionrange AT marcoheurich perceptiontowardwolvesaredrivenbyeconomicstatusandreligionacrosstheirdistributionrange |