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ABSTRACT
Human–coyote interactions have occurred since the arrival of the species to the island of Newfoundland in 1985. A mail survey (N = 786) of Newfoundland residents was conducted in 2008. The survey explored negative feelings toward coyotes. A four stage hierarchical multiple regression model examined how the dependent variable, “feelings,” was influenced by four independent blocks of variables: “existence beliefs,” “impact beliefs,” “fear,” and “experience and demographic characteristics.” Together the predictors explained 50% of the variability, with existence beliefs accounting for most of the variation (ΔR2 = . 45), followed by impact beliefs (ΔR2 = .024) and fear (ΔR2 = .018). The experience-demographic block of variables accounted for minimal influence (ΔR2 = .003) and was not statistically significant. The remaining variability might be explained by emotions. When exploring human–wildlife interactions it is important to understand the role of affect in the formation of attitudes as feelings influence the tolerance and ultimately the willingness to coexist with wildlife.
Acknowledgments
We thank the people living on the island portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who participated in our study. We also thank Shane Mahoney and Chris Baldwin and all those who have helped us in the different stages of the research and article-writing process.
Funding
We are grateful for the financial support provided by the Institute for Biodiversity, Ecosystem Science and Sustainability (IBES, grant #206559), the Department of Environment and Conservation and Wildlife Division, and the MITACS research grant (#206595).