The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia
From a conservation point of view, Macedonia′s brown bear (Ursus arctos) population appears to be a key link in the distribution of one of Europe′s largest brown bear populations, the Dinaric-Pindos population. The lack of information concerning the bear population in the Republic of Macedonia and b...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Conservation & Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2011;volume=9;issue=3;spage=189;epage=201;aulast=Lescureux |
| _version_ | 1818617971615989760 |
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| author | Nicolas Lescureux John D.C. Linnell Sabit Mustafa Dime Melovski Aleksandar Stojanov Gjorge Ivanov Vasko Avukatov |
| author_facet | Nicolas Lescureux John D.C. Linnell Sabit Mustafa Dime Melovski Aleksandar Stojanov Gjorge Ivanov Vasko Avukatov |
| author_sort | Nicolas Lescureux |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | From a conservation point of view, Macedonia′s brown bear (Ursus arctos) population appears to be a key link in the distribution of one of Europe′s largest brown bear populations, the Dinaric-Pindos population. The lack of information concerning the bear population in the Republic of Macedonia and bear acceptance by local people inspired us to explore local knowledge and perceptions concerning bears that could be relevant for their conservation. Accordingly, we adopted a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews to determine how the specific behaviour and ecology of bears can influence, through interactions, local peoples′ knowledge and perceptions. Our results show that due to numerous interactions, the informants′ knowledge appeared to be detailed and consistent, both internally and with existing scientific literature about bears. Bear specific behaviour allows them to be located, individualised and thus appropriated by villagers, and also to be identified as an alter-ego. For the villagers, the occasional harmfulness of a bear is not the result of a general characteristic of bears in general, but of some individual bear′s behaviour. Finally, bears enjoy a relatively good image as long as local people can react against individuals that cause damage. However, direct or indirect poaching of bears is still a main concern for the Macedonian brown bear′s conservation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T17:14:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57d8a3792b3b44a48f00bb4fd9c2f0a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0972-4923 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T17:14:10Z |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation & Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-57d8a3792b3b44a48f00bb4fd9c2f0a52022-12-21T22:23:20ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsConservation & Society0972-49232011-01-019318920110.4103/0972-4923.86990The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western MacedoniaNicolas LescureuxJohn D.C. LinnellSabit MustafaDime MelovskiAleksandar StojanovGjorge IvanovVasko AvukatovFrom a conservation point of view, Macedonia′s brown bear (Ursus arctos) population appears to be a key link in the distribution of one of Europe′s largest brown bear populations, the Dinaric-Pindos population. The lack of information concerning the bear population in the Republic of Macedonia and bear acceptance by local people inspired us to explore local knowledge and perceptions concerning bears that could be relevant for their conservation. Accordingly, we adopted a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews to determine how the specific behaviour and ecology of bears can influence, through interactions, local peoples′ knowledge and perceptions. Our results show that due to numerous interactions, the informants′ knowledge appeared to be detailed and consistent, both internally and with existing scientific literature about bears. Bear specific behaviour allows them to be located, individualised and thus appropriated by villagers, and also to be identified as an alter-ego. For the villagers, the occasional harmfulness of a bear is not the result of a general characteristic of bears in general, but of some individual bear′s behaviour. Finally, bears enjoy a relatively good image as long as local people can react against individuals that cause damage. However, direct or indirect poaching of bears is still a main concern for the Macedonian brown bear′s conservation.http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2011;volume=9;issue=3;spage=189;epage=201;aulast=Lescureuxhuman-bear relationshipsMacedoniabrown bearUrsus arctosconservationlocal knowledgeperceptions |
| spellingShingle | Nicolas Lescureux John D.C. Linnell Sabit Mustafa Dime Melovski Aleksandar Stojanov Gjorge Ivanov Vasko Avukatov The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia Conservation & Society human-bear relationships Macedonia brown bear Ursus arctos conservation local knowledge perceptions |
| title | The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia |
| title_full | The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia |
| title_fullStr | The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia |
| title_full_unstemmed | The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia |
| title_short | The king of the forest: Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for their conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia |
| title_sort | king of the forest local knowledge about european brown bears ursus arctos and implications for their conservation in contemporary western macedonia |
| topic | human-bear relationships Macedonia brown bear Ursus arctos conservation local knowledge perceptions |
| url | http://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2011;volume=9;issue=3;spage=189;epage=201;aulast=Lescureux |
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