Does human education reduce conflicts between humans and bears? An agent-based modelling approach

Authored by Lael Parrott, Jessa Marley, Andrea Hyde, Joseph H Salkeld, Marie-Caroline Prima, Susan E Senger, Rebecca C Tyson

Date Published: 2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.10.013

Sponsors: National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: ODD Flow charts

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

As human settlement expands farther into previously uninhabited areas, interactions with wild animals are likely to increase. The nature of these interactions can be detrimental to humans and animals alike. We focus on the relationship between urban areas and bears, and the consequences of a bear's dietary choices. Using an agent-based model we investigated the effects of educating humans about waste management and bear deterrence methods on the number of bears that enter urban areas repeatedly. Variables tested included the percentage of the landscape that is urban, probability of deterrence, percentage of the human population educated about bear safe behaviours, types of bear management strategies (BMSs) implemented in educated urban areas, and the bear management spatial configurations (BMCs). The results indicate that all education methods reduce the number of human-bear conflicts. For each percent of the population that is taught, there is a 5\% decrease in the probability that a bear becomes a conflict bear. We also found that the existing residential spatial configuration and the bear management strategies to be implemented are important considerations when creating an education program. Our results suggest that agent-based models can be used to identify viable management strategies and to determine the most effective human education program (BMS and BMC) when trying to reduce the number of conflict bears. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tags

Management selection National-park Safety People American black bear Individual-based modelling Computational ecology Wildlife interactions Urban bears Bear movement Human-bear interactions