Attitudes Toward Cougar Restoration in Seven Eastern States

[Pantheraman]

A while ago I made a thread on a study that found suitable cougar habitat in the eastern United States. After that, another study was published on people's attitudes about potential cougar reintroduction in the east.

And yes, this study was published a while ago, but better late than never.

"Results from an online survey of residents of seven eastern states with potential cougar habitat (n=2756) suggest that support for cougar restoration is much higher than opposition to cougar restoration. Ratios of strong support to strong opposition range from approximately 4:1 to 13:1. Maine has the highest ratio of strong support to strong opposition at 13:1, indicating that for every one person opposing cougar restoration in the state, we can expect 13 people to support it. Vermont and New Hampshire have the second highest ratio of strong support to strong opposition at 12:1 each. New York and Massachusetts have the second lowest ratio of strong support to strong opposition, at 5:1 each. West Virginia and Pennsylvania have the lowest ratio of strong support to strong opposition with ratios of 4:1, indicating that for every one person opposing cougar restoration in these states, we can expect 4 people to support it. Results also reveal that states with the lowest ratio of strong support to strong opposition tend to have the highest proportion of respondents expressing neutrality toward the idea of restoration. At the individual-level, support for cougar restoration was higher among men, respondents identifying “strongly” or “very strongly” as a hunter or a conservationist, those with mutualist wildlife value orientations, urban residents, and respondents identifying as politically liberal."

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.26.542322v1.full.pdf

So we've got both the habitat and public support. Now we just need the plan for it.

 

[Pantheraman]

I got curious about the difference in support: opposition ratios within the states surveyed. Granted, the support is higher than the opposition in all states, but given the impact a minority of people can choose to have on any species, it's worth looking into the reasons for the varying levels of opposition in each state.

At first glance, it seems obvious. Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire have much lower populations than Massachusetts and New York state which would translate to less cougar-human conflict. But it becomes obvious population isn't the only factor in attitude as West Virginia has a higher opposition level than the three mentioned states do, but also doesn't even have 2 million people living inside it. And I think it's related to West Virginia's unemployment rate. West Virginia doesn't really have a great economy, and it has a higher unemployment rate than Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire. The worse an economy is, the more people will depend on wildlife to make a living. You need not look further than African countries to see this in action. So in the case of West Virginia, it's probably fair to say they depend more on hunting for sustenance than in Maine for instance. The more people rely on hunting, (at least in these parts) the more likely they may hate predators.

And yes, hunters are one of the groups in the survey that supported more support. This, however, includes hunters from all the surveyed states, not exclusively West Virginia. Not to say of course, most hunters in West Virginia oppose cougar reintroduction, but because they may rely on hunting more, opposition might be higher. New York, Pennslyvania, and Massachusetts also have higher unemployment rates, but their populations are much larger so unemployment issues are mostly focused within the big cities. But given West Virginia's much lower population, those effects will be felt more evenly if you will.