Bane or Blessing? Reviewing Cultural Values of Bats across the Asia-Pacific Region

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  • Mary-Ruth Low
    Project Pteropus, Rimba, 22-3A, Casa Kiara II, Jalan Kiara 5, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • Wong Zhi Hoong
    Malaysia Immersion Hub, Monash University, Malaysia.
  • Zhiyuan Shen
    School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
  • Baheerathan Murugavel
    IISER TVM Centre for Research and Education in Ecology and Evolution (ICREEE), School of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, India.
  • Nikki Mariner
    Manamea Art Studio, Apia, Samoa.
  • Lisa Marie Paguntalan
    Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Bacolod City, Philippines.
  • Krizler Tanalgo
    Landscape Ecology Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China.
  • Moe Moe Aung
    Department of Zoology, University of Mandalay, Mandalay, Myanmar.
  • . Sheherazade
    Wildlife Conservation Society Indonesia Program, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.
  • Lawrence Alan Bansa
    Faculty of Natural Science and Sustainability, University College Sabah Foundation, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
  • Tuanjit Sritongchuay
    Landscape Ecology Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China.
  • Jason Hideki Preble
    Department of Social Informatics, Biosphere Informatics Laboratory, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
  • Sheema Abdul Aziz
    Project Pteropus, Rimba, 22-3A, Casa Kiara II, Jalan Kiara 5, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

抄録

<jats:p> Chiroptophobia, or the fear of bats, which encompasses negative perceptions of bats as disease vectors, pests, or harmful creatures associated with evil spirits, represents an important barrier to bat conservation globally. Derived largely from the influence of Western cultural perceptions, it ignores the diverse cultural perceptions of bats from other regions, which have been largely overlooked. To better understand local beliefs and cultural perceptions regarding bats across the Asia-Pacific region, and how they may help design culturally grounded conservation strategies, we conducted a review of publications in the English-language literature documenting cultural value of bats in Asia-Pacific traditions. We discovered 119 bat cultural values in 60 different cultures from 24 countries across the region and found a wide spectrum of reports, which we categorized according to five wildlife value categories and further categorized these values according to positive, neutral, and negative. We found that 62% of the cultures had only positive values, 8% had only neutral values, while 10% had only negative values. This suggests that the Asia-Pacific region and its cultures contain far more positive associations with bats than most Western societies and, as such, offer promising examples and opportunities to promote human-bat coexistence. However, we also discuss how local belief systems may not always align with daily practices or conservation objectives. We suggest employing targeted, culturally grounded and locally contextualized outreach strategies in order to carry out more effective bat conservation and education in Asia-Pacific countries. </jats:p>

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