Attitude Index of Local Communities toward Wildlife and Their Management Methods in Malaysia

Abstract

Wildlife have an important role in the lives of local people and conservation practitioners in Malaysia because of their rare and elusive status, socioeconomic impacts, and management conflicts. However, few studies have evaluated the local attitudes toward wildlife and their management methods in Malaysia. In this study, we used indices to measure attitudes toward wildlife and their management methods in Malaysia. The iterative item reliability analysis was executed on online questionnaire data from a random sample of 585 local respondents using Cronbach’s alpha. The result yielded two indices of locals’ attitudes; (i) Wildlife Attitude Index (WAI); and (ii) Wildlife Management Method Attitude Index (WMMAI). The WAI had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.71 and the WMMAI had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.73. The following variables had significant determinants of WAI and WMMAI in Malaysia: (i) gender; (ii) age; (iii) level of education; (iv) residential area; (v) familiarity (experience); and (vi) nature engagement. These attitude indices could be significant in assisting conservation practitioners and decision-makers in understanding locals’ attitudes to prioritize wildlife management practices and showing the relationship between management and local demographics with the assumption that high-scoring individuals are more likely to favor wildlife conservation initiatives and activities.