Human-otter interactions in the Peruvian Amazon: perceptions and potential for conservation Maribel Recharte Psychology School of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2018 Declaration I declare that the work undertaken and reported within this thesis is my own and has not been submitted in consideration of any other degree or award. Signed…………………………………Date…………. 2 “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth” Marcus Aurelius 3 Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere gratitude to all the people who have contributed to the realization of the thesis, in particular my supervisors Professor Phyllis Lee and Sarah Vick, for providing their support in carrying out this research from the start to end. Their expertise and patience during the research and writing period was priceless. My examiners Craig Roberts and Tatyana Humle provided fantastic constructive criticism that greatly improved my thesis. Thanks also to San Diego Zoo Global represented by Matt Anderson Ph.D., Rufford Small Grants and Los Angeles Zoo for granting me with financial support to carry out all the research compiled in this thesis. Their generous support gave me the opportunity to acquire new insights on the human-giant otter interactions and provided me with better knowledge, training and opportunities for dissemination of results in national and international conferences. I also extend my gratitude to the organizations that collaborated with me with logistically, allowing me to collect data without restrictions in their installations: CREA, Rainforest Expeditions, AmazonEco, and Pilpintuwasi Amazon Animal Orphanage. SERNANP, especially Lourdes Ruck and Gloria Rojas, helped me with the internal documentation required to do research inside protected areas. In Pucacuro National Reserve, the manager Blgo. Cristian Tanchiva and MSc. Pedro Perez collaborated with the logistics required to get to the protected area and facilitate the organization and collection of fishing registers. I would also like to thank to my colleagues: Zina Valverde, Delia Moreno y Diana W. Meza for their assistance and collaboration during the data collection, park guards, teachers, field guides, cookers from the communities San Martin the Tipishca, 28 de Julio, Intuto, Alfonso Ugarte help us to bear the logistic in situ. Finally, I am indebted to my family and specially my husband and daughter for their infinite patience. 4 Abstract Human expansion is damaging pristine habitats and causing losses to biodiversity; meanwhile some wildlife species are perceived negatively when they cause damage or loss to humans. My main objective was to obtain a better understanding of the interactions between people and giant otters, a top aquatic predator in Amazonia and an international flagship species for tourism. In Chapter 2, I explore perceptions and attitudes towards wildlife using structured interviews and focus groups to find out how the perceptions of giant otters as damagers of fishing nets compared with that caused by other aquatic species. People from three Peruvian Amazon communities, Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve (PSNR), Pucacuro National Reserve (PNR) and Maijuna-Kichwa Regional Conservation Area (MKRCA) all had different perceptions of otters; in PSNR people were more tolerant to the presence of giant otters. In PNR and MKRCA interviewees had highly negative perceptions of giant otters, even though fishing registers demonstrated that giant otters have few interactions with fishermen during fishing and rarely damage nets in comparison to other aquatic predators. Moreover, fish such as piranha, suckermouth catfish, and wolf fish, among others, broke nets at the same frequency as did aquatic predators. Short and long- term outcomes of ‘single-hit’ conservation education was evaluated for schoolchildren in two communities in Chapter 3. There was no difference between the attitudes of schoolchildren who participated in single-hit session in 2009 and those who did not, however, overall, all participants had significantly more positive attitudes to giant otters after a single hit session in 2014. In Chapter 4, I investigate the relative appeal of giant otters for tourists compared to other species, using questionnaires with tourists in the Peruvian Amazon, to determine their suitability as a flagship species for tourism - a role they are widely assumed to fulfil. While giant otters did not emerge in the top five as important flagship species during the interviews, they do fulfil all the criteria for making an excellent flagship species and remain an attractive candidate for conservation marketing. Building local awareness and a positive relationship between local people and aquatic predators is necessary to ensure their survival. Giant otters are now almost universally present in Amazonia and are potentially easy to focus tourism around – they represent the perfect flagship to promote conservation campaigns and to slow the destruction and degradation of waterways in the Amazon – currently a pressing issue in the region. 5 Table of Contents Declaration ..................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. 4 Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 5 Table of contents ............................................................................................................... 6 List of Tables .................................................................................................................. 12 List of Figures ................................................................................................................. 14 List of Coloured Plates .................................................................................................... 17 Outputs related to Thesis ................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... 21 1.1 Theory of wildlife coexistence ..................................................................... 22 1.2 Compensation as mitigation ......................................................................... 24 1.3 The value of wildlife .................................................................................... 25 1.3.1 Wild meat and problematic wildlife ............................................................. 26 1.3.2 Trophy hunting and problematic wildlife .................................................... 27 1.3.3 Indirect economic benefits of wildlife ......................................................... 28 1.4 Tourism as a benefit for local people in Amazonia ..................................... 28 1.5 Defining conservation psychology for wildlife conservation ...................... 29 1.6 Using conservation psychology to understand behaviour ............................ 30 1.7 Background, ecology and overexploitation of giant otters .......................... 32 1.8 Methods: general overview .......................................................................... 36 1.9 Aims and thesis structure ............................................................................. 39 Chapter 2: Perceptions, attitudes and reality towards damage cause by top aquatic fish predators in the Peruvian Amazon ................................................. 41 Abstract ................................................................................................................... 42 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 43 6 2.1.1 The economic impact caused by aquatic top predators ................................ 43 2.1.2 Coexistence between humans and otters around the world ......................... 44 2.1.3 Negative interaction with giant otters in Amazonia ..................................... 45 2.1.4 Protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon ...................................................... 46 2.2 Methods ........................................................................................................ 47 2.2.1 Study areas ................................................................................................... 47 2.2.1.1 Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve ................................................................ 48 2.2.1.2 Pucacuro National Reserve .......................................................................... 49 2.2.1.3 Maijuna-Kichwa Regional Conservation Area ............................................ 50 2.2.2 Data collection and analysis ......................................................................... 52 2.2.2.1 Perception and attitudes ............................................................................... 53 2.2.2.2 Focus groups and coding ............................................................................. 56 2.2.2.3 Fishing registers ........................................................................................... 58 2.3 Results .......................................................................................................... 59 2.3.1 Demographic background