Big Three in Slovakia – how is  perceived by the public?

Peter URBAN
Katedra biológie a ekológie, Fakulta prírodných vied UMB, Tajovského 40, 974 01 Banská Bystrica; email: Peter.Urban@umb.sk, urbanlutra@gmail.com

 Abstract

Aim of this paper was to find out the attitudes people towards the brown bear (Ursus arctos), grey wolf (Canis lupus) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), their conservation and management in Slovakia. The survey was carried out during one month (from January 25 to February 25) by electronic (per rollam) questionnaire survey. The questionnaire contained 23 questions. A total of 471 completed questionnaires, from 331 (70,3 %) males and 140 (29,7 %) females from all over Slovakia, were included in the survey analysis. Generally, most respondents (43,9 %) held positive attitudes toward large carnivores. The most accepted species was the lynx, the least accepted was the brown bear.

Key words:  large carnivores, questionnaire, knowledge, protection, damages