Geographic bias in the media reporting of aquatic versus terrestrial human predator conflicts and its conservation implications

• Main Authors: Hugo Bornatowski, Nigel E. Hussey, Cláudio L.S. Sampaio, Rodrigo R.P. Barreto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019-01-01
• Series: Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation
• Subjects: Carnivore; Education programs; Human–killers; Media; Shark attack
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2530064418301354

Interactions or conflicts between humans and large predators occur globally, but an understanding of their spatial occurrence and associated media reporting remains limited. Media reach is now global and rapid, particularly through western news outlets and amplified by social networks. This has consequences for how the public perceive human-predator conflicts and in turn how this impacts species' conservation and management. To address this point, a literature search was undertaken to synthesize global records of predator-human conflicts followed be an assessment of media reporting of conflicts, for both aquatic (sharks) and terrestrial (lion, tiger, leopard, cougar, puma, bear spp.) species. We show that predator-human conflicts involving terrestrial mammals occur predominantly in developing'' nations (>90%) while aquatic predator-human conflicts occur (65%) and are principally reported from developed nations. Moreover, media reporting of sharks is dominated by attacks on humans and sensationalized documentation of incidences compared to those involving terrestrial species. As a result, high media coverage of shark-human conflicts may lead humans to overestimate the risk of being attacked. We recommend increased communication between stakeholders to establish ground rules for media reporting of shark-human conflicts, better informed reporting of attacks, further research undertaken to understand the public's perception of media reporting of conflicts and continued investment in communication, education, and public awareness programs. Through these actions it will be possible to rebalance the public perception of sharks to promote understanding and value of their ecological role and to minimize human-shark incidents.