Abstract:
Few studies test whether education can help increase support for wildlife management
interventions. This mixed methods study sought to test the importance of educating a community
on the use of a baboon-proof electric fence to mitigate negative interactions between humans and
Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) in a residential suburb of the City of Cape Town, South Africa.
An educational video on the welfare, conservation and lifestyle benefits of a baboon-proof electric
fence was included in a short online survey. The positioning of the video within the survey was
randomised either to fall before or after questions probing the level of support for an electric fence.
The results showed that watching the video before most survey questions increased the average
marginal probability of supporting an electric fence by 15 percentage points. The study also explored
whether the educational video could change people’s minds. Those who saw the video towards the
end of the survey were questioned again about the electric fence. Many changed their minds after
watching the video, with support for the fence increasing from 36% to 50%. Of these respondents,
the results show that being female raised the average marginal probability of someone changing
their mind in favour of supporting the fence by 19%. Qualitative analysis revealed that support
for or against the fence was multi-layered and that costs and concern for baboons were not the
only relevant factors influencing people’s choices. Conservation often needs to change people’s
behaviours. We need to know what interventions are effective. We show in the real world that an
educational video can be effective and can moderately change people’s opinions and that women
are more likely to change their position in light of the facts than men. This study contributes to the
emerging literature on the importance of education in managing conservation conflicts and the need
for evidence-based interventions.
