RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The role of cultural norms in shaping attitudes towards amphibians in Cape Town, South Africa
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 681403
DO 10.1101/681403
A1 Peta Brom
A1 Pippin Anderson
A1 Alan Channing
A1 Leslie G. Underhill
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/06/24/681403.abstract
AB Urban ecosystems are increasingly viewed as an important component within strategies for wildlife conservation but are shaped as much by natural systems as they are by social and political processes. At the garden scale, attitudes and preferences govern design and maintenance choices including the decision to encourage or discourage specific faunal presence. At the global scale, charismatic taxa that are well-liked attract more conservation funding and volunteer stewardship. Amphibians are a class of animals that are both loved and loathed making them a suitable subject for comparing and unpacking the drivers of preference and attitudes towards animals. We conducted a mixed methods survey of 192 participants in three adjacent neighbourhoods in Cape Town, South Africa. The survey included both quantitative and qualitative questions which were analysed thematically and used to explain the quantitative results. The results revealed that attitudes formed during childhood tended to be retained into adulthood, were shaped by cultural norms, childhood experiences and the attitudes of primary care-givers. The findings are significant for environmental education programmes aimed at building connectedness to nature and biophilic values.