Local people's attitudes and perceptions of dholes (Cuon alpinus) around protected areas in southeastern Thailand

Large carnivores such as dholes (Cuon alpinus) have been persecuted and eradicated from certain areas because of the perception that they pose significant threats to livestock. We conducted interviews to examine which variables predict local people's attitude towards dholes. We opportunistically sampled 791 respondents (>= 18 years of age) in 34 villages that were within 10 km of one of seven targeted protected areas in southeastern Thailand. We used Random Forests to analyze responses to 20 questions concerning respondent demography; knowledge of, perceived occurrence of, and personal attitudes toward dholes; and frequency of forest visits. Respondents agreed dholes should be eliminated based heavily on whether or not they 1) considered dholes dangerous and 2) believed dholes will attack a person. Most villagers, however, held neutral or positive attitudes toward dholes; only 12% of participants stated that dholes should be eliminated in the wild. Overall, we found an encouraging social climate for dholes in Thailand. Our findings support the need for enhanced efforts to teach people to distinguish dholes from jackals (Canis aureus) and to encourage students to experience nature.