Lessons for becoming bison wise and bear aware in Elk Island National Park

ABSTRACT

Biospheres are working landscapes that promote conservation and sustainable land-use while also providing space for outdoor recreation, environmental education, and research. This study focuses on Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada, which is part of the Beaver Hills Biosphere. The park is home to bison and black bears and growing visitor numbers have increased the potential for human-wildlife conflict. With a focus on the promotion of human-wildlife coexistence, this study takes a mixed-methods approach to develop and evaluate an environmental education program targeted to improve visitor awareness about safety around bison and bears at Elk Island National Park. The program was found to be effective in teaching visitors about safe behaviors around wildlife and key themes arose about important learning outcomes. In particular, the findings indicate interpretation and environmental education programs have the potential to increase awareness about safety for both humans and wildlife and shift away from more human-centric perceptions.

Keywords:

• Human wildlife co-existance
• human wildlife conflict
• interpretation
• visitor behavior
• wildlife tourism

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the research partners from Parks Canada at Elk Island National Park. In particular, thank you to Cam Johnson, Heather Doyle, and Ramona Maraj, for your expertise and flexibility with this project. Funding for this project was provided by Mitacs and the Land Stewardship Centre of Canada in partnership with the Beaver Hills Biosphere.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by Mitacs Canada and the Land Stewardship Centre of Canada in partnership with the Beaver Hills Biosphere (FR42787).