The theme for this year's Canadian Section of The Wildlife Society's (CSTWS) webinar series is: Impacts of COVID-19 on wildlife and wildlife research.
In our final webinar in this series, Dr. Maureen Murray will present on urban resident experiences with rats and other wildlife during a COVID-19 stay-at-home order.
The webinar will take place from 2:00-3:00 pm eastern time on Wednesday, April 7.
If you are a CSTWS member and are interested in participating, please respond to this e-mail (webinars.cstws@gmail.com) to register. You will be provided with further instructions before the webinar (i.e. we won't send a confirmation e-mail after you register).
Dr. Maureen Murray is the Wildlife Disease Ecologist at Lincoln Park Zoo's Urban Wildlife Institute. Her research focuses on urban wildlife health in the context of human-wildlife conflict through a One Health lens.
Reductions in human activity to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 were accompanied by reports of unusual wildlife sightings and changes in animal behavior in highly developed areas. In this study, we surveyed residents in Chicago, Illinois, USA to determine if they observed more wildlife during a stay-at-home order, which species they observed, and if wildlife sightings depended on abiotic, biotic, and socioeconomic characteristics of their neighborhood. We also tested whether wildlife sightings were associated with attitudes about urban wildlife by quantifying wildlife value orientations. Our results suggest that pandemic restrictions may have promoted wildlife sightings for a large proportion of urban residents but that experiences with wildlife were related to neighborhood greenness and income. Further, encounters with nuisance species during the stay-at-home order may have had a negative effect on wildlife attitudes. Understanding encounters with urban wildlife during pandemic restrictions can help mitigate human-wildlife conflict by informing campaigns to foster positive engagement with local wildlife and human well-being.
Add event to calendar
|
|