Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media
Abstract Understanding local encounters with large carnivores is important for promoting sustainable coexistence. The use of smartphones and social media in geographically remote areas offers a novel avenue to study human–wildlife encounters from a local perspective. We conducted a content analysis...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Conservation Science and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12907 |
| _version_ | 1811161151684214784 |
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| author | Yufang Gao Andy T. L. Lee Yu Luo Justine Shanti Alexander Xiangying Shi Tashi Sangpo Susan G. Clark |
| author_facet | Yufang Gao Andy T. L. Lee Yu Luo Justine Shanti Alexander Xiangying Shi Tashi Sangpo Susan G. Clark |
| author_sort | Yufang Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Understanding local encounters with large carnivores is important for promoting sustainable coexistence. The use of smartphones and social media in geographically remote areas offers a novel avenue to study human–wildlife encounters from a local perspective. We conducted a content analysis of mobile videos on social media (n = 207) to characterize human encounters with snow leopards, gray wolves, and brown bears on the Tibetan Plateau in China. We also used ethnographic interviews to understand the backgrounds and motivations of videographers. Results show large carnivore encounters are not necessarily conflictual. Over half of encounters are neutral without observable interference between people and predators. The likelihood of a “negative encounter” is significantly associated with the target species, the distance between the videographer and the animal, the level of human influence in the surroundings, and the presence of other animals (i.e., dogs and livestock). Local Tibetan herders document unusual encounters with carnivores using videos for various reasons, but what is deemed unusual is context‐dependent and fluid. Our study demonstrates that social media videos can provide valuable insights into the diversity and complexity of human–wildlife interactions. We encourage conservationists to develop visual participatory programs to better engage local people in conservation knowledge production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T06:10:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9029f79dfbb84e2bbcea8f5a41d2b07f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2578-4854 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T06:10:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Science and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-9029f79dfbb84e2bbcea8f5a41d2b07f2023-03-02T18:50:03ZengWileyConservation Science and Practice2578-48542023-03-0153n/an/a10.1111/csp2.12907Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social mediaYufang Gao0Andy T. L. Lee1Yu Luo2Justine Shanti Alexander3Xiangying Shi4Tashi Sangpo5Susan G. Clark6School of the Environment Yale University New Haven Connecticut USAChina Conservation Support Beijing ChinaDepartment of Sociology and Anthropology University of Puget Sound Tacoma Washington USAThe Snow Leopard Trust Seattle Washington USAShanshui Conservation Center Beijing ChinaNyanpo Yutse Conservation Association Jiuzhi ChinaSchool of the Environment Yale University New Haven Connecticut USAAbstract Understanding local encounters with large carnivores is important for promoting sustainable coexistence. The use of smartphones and social media in geographically remote areas offers a novel avenue to study human–wildlife encounters from a local perspective. We conducted a content analysis of mobile videos on social media (n = 207) to characterize human encounters with snow leopards, gray wolves, and brown bears on the Tibetan Plateau in China. We also used ethnographic interviews to understand the backgrounds and motivations of videographers. Results show large carnivore encounters are not necessarily conflictual. Over half of encounters are neutral without observable interference between people and predators. The likelihood of a “negative encounter” is significantly associated with the target species, the distance between the videographer and the animal, the level of human influence in the surroundings, and the presence of other animals (i.e., dogs and livestock). Local Tibetan herders document unusual encounters with carnivores using videos for various reasons, but what is deemed unusual is context‐dependent and fluid. Our study demonstrates that social media videos can provide valuable insights into the diversity and complexity of human–wildlife interactions. We encourage conservationists to develop visual participatory programs to better engage local people in conservation knowledge production.https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12907brown bearhuman–wildlife coexistencehuman–wildlife conflictsmartphonesnow leopardTibetan Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Yufang Gao Andy T. L. Lee Yu Luo Justine Shanti Alexander Xiangying Shi Tashi Sangpo Susan G. Clark Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media Conservation Science and Practice brown bear human–wildlife coexistence human–wildlife conflict smartphone snow leopard Tibetan Plateau |
| title | Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media |
| title_full | Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media |
| title_fullStr | Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media |
| title_full_unstemmed | Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media |
| title_short | Large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media |
| title_sort | large carnivore encounters through the lens of mobile videos on social media |
| topic | brown bear human–wildlife coexistence human–wildlife conflict smartphone snow leopard Tibetan Plateau |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12907 |
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