Large carnivores from the perspective of students from primary and secondary schools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14712/18023061.76Keywords:
European brown bear, grey wolf, Eurasian lynx, red fox, carnivores, carnivore dangerAbstract
The majority of the public considers these predators to be dangerous and even thinks that they look upon humans as prey. There has been much research carried out on this topic, which this fact confirms, but none of it has focused on the opinions of of primary and secondary school pupils. Students are part of the school educational system and their opinions about large predators are largely formed from the information they receive through school education. The purpose of this assignment was to find out the attitudes of primary and secondary school students from different parts of the Czech Republic towards selected predators. The investigation into student attitudes was based on a survey. The respondents included students from a primary school in the High Tatras Mountains, i.e. an area where many large carnivores are located which have never been eradicated by humans. As the results of the survey show, the information students receive about predator danger is distorted. Students consider large carnivores to be dangerous to humans more often than adults do. More than a third of the surveyed pupils think that the wolf is aggressive and may attack each time it meets a human. More than half are of the same opinion regarding the danger posed by the brown bear. The results of this research may demonstrate the level of information pupils possess regarding large predators and could contribute toward public awareness programs related to the reintroduction of large carnivores back into nature.Metrics
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