Date of Award

Fall 2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Human Movement Sciences

Program/Concentration

Park, Recreation and Tourism Studies

Committee Director

Christopher Zajchowski

Committee Member

Eddie Hill

Committee Member

Jeffrey Skibins

Committee Member

Lindsay Usher

Abstract

Human-wildlife interactions in protected areas are complex, and visitor preference for close proximity to wildlife continues to challenge managers. Two indicators and thresholds questionnaires with varying photo panel orders were distributed to a total of 302 visitors at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina to examine the acceptability of various distances and management actions for black bear viewing. Results show average minimum acceptability for black bear viewing is 38 yards for a single bear and 38 - 44 yards for a black bear sow with two cubs; photo panel viewing order influenced participants’ evaluations, illustrating the potential for priming to significantly affect proximity evaluations. Results indicate the importance of further exploring the factors that impact proximity preferences, such as the number and age of bears and visitors’ distances to personal vehicles. Additionally, observational research of visitors’ behaviors within human-wildlife interactions may aid managers in understanding visitors’ norms.

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In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/84s4-ct31

ISBN

9781392372371

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