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Controlled exposure reduces fear of brown bears

Johansson, Maria LU orcid ; Flykt, Anders ; Frank, Jens and Støen, Ole Gunnar (2019) In Human Dimensions of Wildlife 24(4). p.363-379
Abstract

Fear of large carnivores such as brown bears may restrict people’s outdoor activities regardless of experts’ estimated risk of attack. This research study empirically examined three exposure interventions in the form of guided walks intended to give people living in brown bear areas tools for coping with their fear. All interventions significantly reduced fear, decreased people’s perceived vulnerability, and increased their social trust in wildlife management authorities. The walk including an encounter with a radio-collared bear in a wild bear habitat resulted in the largest reduction in fear, followed by the walk in the wild bear habitat only and then the walk in a park with captive bears. The wild bear habitat walk was the... (More)

Fear of large carnivores such as brown bears may restrict people’s outdoor activities regardless of experts’ estimated risk of attack. This research study empirically examined three exposure interventions in the form of guided walks intended to give people living in brown bear areas tools for coping with their fear. All interventions significantly reduced fear, decreased people’s perceived vulnerability, and increased their social trust in wildlife management authorities. The walk including an encounter with a radio-collared bear in a wild bear habitat resulted in the largest reduction in fear, followed by the walk in the wild bear habitat only and then the walk in a park with captive bears. The wild bear habitat walk was the intervention best suited for further development as it may be used in any area where bears occur and without affecting animal welfare.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
exposure, Fear, interventions, large carnivores
in
Human Dimensions of Wildlife
volume
24
issue
4
pages
363 - 379
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85066273217
ISSN
1087-1209
DOI
10.1080/10871209.2019.1616238
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fd2e21e9-fe59-40a1-9a5b-08fc77efd02e
date added to LUP
2019-06-14 14:44:32
date last changed
2024-01-01 09:14:40
@article{fd2e21e9-fe59-40a1-9a5b-08fc77efd02e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Fear of large carnivores such as brown bears may restrict people’s outdoor activities regardless of experts’ estimated risk of attack. This research study empirically examined three exposure interventions in the form of guided walks intended to give people living in brown bear areas tools for coping with their fear. All interventions significantly reduced fear, decreased people’s perceived vulnerability, and increased their social trust in wildlife management authorities. The walk including an encounter with a radio-collared bear in a wild bear habitat resulted in the largest reduction in fear, followed by the walk in the wild bear habitat only and then the walk in a park with captive bears. The wild bear habitat walk was the intervention best suited for further development as it may be used in any area where bears occur and without affecting animal welfare.</p>}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Maria and Flykt, Anders and Frank, Jens and Støen, Ole Gunnar}},
  issn         = {{1087-1209}},
  keywords     = {{exposure; Fear; interventions; large carnivores}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{363--379}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Human Dimensions of Wildlife}},
  title        = {{Controlled exposure reduces fear of brown bears}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2019.1616238}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/10871209.2019.1616238}},
  volume       = {{24}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}