From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.

Despite legal protection, deliberate killing by local people is one of the major threats to the conservation of lions and other large carnivores in Africa. Addressing this problem poses particular challenges, mainly because it is difficult to uncover illicit behavior. This article examined two group...

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Main Authors: Leela Hazzah, Alistair Bath, Stephanie Dolrenry, Amy Dickman, Laurence Frank
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5279730?pdf=render
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author Leela Hazzah
Alistair Bath
Stephanie Dolrenry
Amy Dickman
Laurence Frank
author_facet Leela Hazzah
Alistair Bath
Stephanie Dolrenry
Amy Dickman
Laurence Frank
author_sort Leela Hazzah
collection DOAJ
description Despite legal protection, deliberate killing by local people is one of the major threats to the conservation of lions and other large carnivores in Africa. Addressing this problem poses particular challenges, mainly because it is difficult to uncover illicit behavior. This article examined two groups of Maasai warriors: individuals who have killed African lions (Panthera leo) and those who have not. We conducted interviews to explore the relationship between attitudes, intentions and known lion killing behavior. Factor analysis and logistic regression revealed that lion killing was mainly determined by: (a) general attitudes toward lions, (b) engagement in traditional customs, (c) lion killing intentions to defend property, and (d) socio-cultural killing intentions. Our results indicated that general attitudes toward lions were the strongest predictor of lion killing behavior. Influencing attitudes to encourage pro-conservation behavior may help reduce killing.
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spelling doaj.art-cfa20efeae77495f9f5a77021d32bf722022-12-21T18:55:37ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01121e017079610.1371/journal.pone.0170796From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.Leela HazzahAlistair BathStephanie DolrenryAmy DickmanLaurence FrankDespite legal protection, deliberate killing by local people is one of the major threats to the conservation of lions and other large carnivores in Africa. Addressing this problem poses particular challenges, mainly because it is difficult to uncover illicit behavior. This article examined two groups of Maasai warriors: individuals who have killed African lions (Panthera leo) and those who have not. We conducted interviews to explore the relationship between attitudes, intentions and known lion killing behavior. Factor analysis and logistic regression revealed that lion killing was mainly determined by: (a) general attitudes toward lions, (b) engagement in traditional customs, (c) lion killing intentions to defend property, and (d) socio-cultural killing intentions. Our results indicated that general attitudes toward lions were the strongest predictor of lion killing behavior. Influencing attitudes to encourage pro-conservation behavior may help reduce killing.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5279730?pdf=render
spellingShingle Leela Hazzah
Alistair Bath
Stephanie Dolrenry
Amy Dickman
Laurence Frank
From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.
PLoS ONE
title From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.
title_full From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.
title_fullStr From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.
title_full_unstemmed From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.
title_short From Attitudes to Actions: Predictors of Lion Killing by Maasai Warriors.
title_sort from attitudes to actions predictors of lion killing by maasai warriors
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5279730?pdf=render
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