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Friend or Foe? : The Impacts of Protection-Oriented and Threat-Oriented Signage on Human-Coyote Interactions

University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

Introduction Kip and Carter are well-known coyote celebrities on UBC Vancouver’s campus , with frequent sightings from staff and students alike. Their visibility a nd familiarity in the community exemplify the increasing activity of coyote s on campus in recent years, leading to a rise in human-coyote interactions . Our focus was to reduce negative human-coyote interactions for the protec tion and enhancement of urban biodiversity. Research Question Does using signage that emphasizes protection-oriented messaging (coyotes n eed protection from humans) or threat-oriented (coyotes are a threat to hum ans) messaging result in more appropriate human-coyote interactions? Methods We designed and tested an experimental study on the efficacy of signage wit h protection-oriented versus threat-oriented imagery and language to promot e appropriate human-coyote interactions. We randomly assigned 290 participa nts to 3 conditions; (1) control signage that is already being used around Vancouver, (2) signage with protection-oriented messaging combined with an image of baby coyotes, and (3) signage with threat-oriented messaging combi ned with an image of adult coyotes. Participants rated the likelihood of th eir potential behavior in terms of reactions to the coyote, pet safety, and reporting the sighting after encountering a coyote. Results We found there was no significant difference between the 3 conditions. Recommendations We recommend further review of effective signage testing and additional eff orts towards coyote safety education for everyone who lives, works, and pla ys on the UBC Vancouver campus. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Report

eng

2024-07-30

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88764

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/