Management of habituation and food conditioning in National Parks: Report from a content analysis of NPS guidance documents
Hudenko HW and Siemer WS. 2013. Management of habituation and food conditioning in National Parks: Report from a content analysis of NPS guidance documents. Natural Resource Report. NPS/BRMD/NRR—2013/626. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
In 2008 the Biological Resource Management Division of the National Park Service (NPS) launched a multi-faceted inquiry to inform management of human-wildlife habituation and human-wildlife interactions across the National Park system. The NPS created a Task Agreement with Cornell University to complete several parts of the inquiry. To clarify current management of food conditioning and wildlife habituation across the system, Cornell staff completed a content analysis of 22 unit management plans and 46 other NPS documents that provide NPS managers with guidance on those topics. The results of that work are reported here. The analysis revealed that the NPS places highest priority on addressing food conditioning and habituation situations that threaten human safety and wildlife conservation in park units. The NPS management efforts are multi-faceted, but most often are directed at reducing negative human-wildlife interactions linked to food conditioning in a few species (e.g., bears, elk) and in specific park units. Response to habituation and food conditioning issues was often a collaborative effort among multiple park divisions. NPS strategies to address habituation and food conditioning centered on: (1) aversive conditioning for wildlife; (2) regulations restricting visitors; or (3) communication initiatives to influence visitor behavior. A recommended next step related to this analysis would be a synthesis of evaluative information about the efficacy of common park actions and a comparison with management guidelines. Such synthesis may reveal suggestions for a comprehensive set of best practices to promote positive human-wildlife interactions to achieve visitor safety and wildlife conservation.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Hudenko, Heather; Siemer, William
- Date of Issue
- 2013-02
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BRD , NRSS
- Keywords
- content analysis, food conditioning, food storage, Habituation, Human Dimensions, human-wildlife, Visitor safety, Wildlife viewing