Abstract
The fact that human—large carnivore relationships tend to be full of material and social conflicts raises applied questions concerning the origin of human perceptions linked to these animals and more theoretical questions concerning the link between identification and relational processes. This study, based on ethno-ethological surveys in the Republic of Macedonia (SE Europe), aims to show that the widely contrasting species specific behavioural characteristics of brown bears, wolves and Eurasian lynx influence local perceptions of these species through the nature and frequency of their interactions with humans. It appears that a high frequency of interactions allows the relational processes to dominate, leading people to modify their actions in response to the behaviour and ecology of the species. However, the fact that the virtual absence of interactions with lynx has not prevented the construction of a particular image of the species also highlights the complexity of the relationship between the level of interactions and people’s perception about animals.
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Notes
Zagars are hunting dogs from the Balkans
Of course, several meanings can hide behind the term protection, but in a general way, for informants, protection was a means to preserve the species and even to reinforce its population but was not interpreted as a desire to protect every single individual.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Research Council of Norway, the FYSSEN Foundation and the MAVA Foundation. The authors would like to thank Dime Melovski, Alexandar Stojanov, Gjorge Ivanov, Sabit Mustafa and Vasco Avukatov from Macedonian Ecological Society for their logistic help on the field.
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Lescureux, N., Linnell, J.D.C. Knowledge and Perceptions of Macedonian Hunters and Herders: The Influence of Species Specific Ecology of Bears, Wolves, and Lynx. Hum Ecol 38, 389–399 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-9326-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-9326-2