U.S. National Park visitor perceptions and behavioral intentions towards actions to prevent white-nose syndrome.

In the United States, the discovery and spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS) has drastically changed how bats and caves are managed. The U.S.

Species misidentification in local markets: Discrepancies between reporting and molecular identification of bushmeat species in northern Uganda.

Bushmeat hunting and consumption, although widely utilized as necessary supplement to household income and nutrition in many regions, presents threats to public health and wildlife conservation efforts. In northern Uganda, consumption of bats and primates, two wildlife groups often implicated in zoonotic disease emergence, is not widely culturally accepted; however, these species are reported by hunters to often be hunted and sold as culturally desirable species, like antelope and warthog. To investigate the prevalence of market bushmeat misidentifiction, we collected 229 bushmeat samples from 23 communities adjacent to Murchison Falls National Park.

Attitudes, practices, and zoonoses awareness of community members involved in the bushmeat trade near Murchison Falls National Park, northern Uganda.

The harvest of bushmeat is widespread in the tropics and sub-tropics. Often in these communities, there is a dependence on bushmeat for both food security and basic income. Despite the importance of bushmeat for households worldwide, the practice raises concern for transmission of zoonotic pathogens through hunting, food preparation, and consumption.

Identifying women's attitudes and barriers to participating in a proposed community-based conservation group in western Belize.

With mounting research showing the many benefits of having women involved in community-based conservation (CBC) efforts, we wanted to identify and measure the attitudes and barriers to women participating in a CBC program in western Belize. We surveyed 500 women in communities surrounding the Vaca Forest Reserve to measure their interest in, attitudes toward, and possible barriers to participating in a CBC program. We assessed women's intent to participate in CBC activities using the Theory of Planned Behavior to identify the attitudinal, normative, and behavioral control constructs that best predict their intentions to participate.

To eat or not to eat an endangered species: views of local residents and physicians on the safety of sea turtle consumption in northwestern Mexico.

Sea turtles have historically been an important food resource for many coastal inhabitants of Mexico. Today, the consumption of sea turtle meat and eggs continues in northwestern Mexico despite well-documented legal protection and market conditions providing easier access to other more reliable protein sources. Although there is growing evidence that consuming sea turtles may be harmful to human health due to biotoxins, environmental contaminants, viruses, parasites, and bacteria, many at-risk individuals, trusted information sources, and risk communicators may be unaware of this information.