JIEFENG KANG

As game meat, particularly from wild mammals like deer, gains popularity in urban areas as a sustainable and ethical food source, understanding public attitudes toward its consumption becomes increasingly important. This study investigates the attitudes of residents in Kyoto, Japan, toward hunting and consuming venison, focusing on how these attitudes are shaped by demographic factors such as age and gender. Conducted in November 2022, a questionnaire survey was distributed to 3000 residents in built-up areas of Kyoto City, yielding 542 complete responses. The survey collected demographic data and detailed opinions on eating venison and hunting policies, supplemented by qualitative insights from open-ended questions. The results show that gender significantly influences attitudes toward venison, with males displaying more positive attitudes. Factors such as age and education level have no significant impact. There is a significant difference between the image of deer, 'holy,' 'cruel,' and 'cute', held by residents, and the perception of venison consumption among urban residents. We did text mining analysis using topic analysis and sentiment analysis, respectively. The topic analysis further identifies key themes in public sentiment, particularly concerns about ethical hunting practices and the ecological impacts of managing urban wildlife. Sentiment analysis explored the emotional polarity preferences of city residents with different attitudes toward venison. The research offers resident-focused insights that align urban consumer attitudes with sustainable wildlife practices, supporting urban wildlife management and urban game meat marketing strategies.

Infectious diseases of wildlife cause human health hazards and economic losses. However, it is unclear how outbreaks affect human behaviour in relation to countermeasures against human-wildlife conflict. To explore the effects of infectious disease outbreaks among wild boars on countermeasure choices, we analysed online auction data before and after an outbreak of classical swine fever in wild boar. Online sales of boar traps decreased by 17 % after the outbreak, whereas sales of control items increased by 73 %. These results imply that infectious disease outbreaks in wildlife shift people's countermeasures from active to passive management. Since active trapping for the control of wildlife populations is essential to the avoidance of human-wildlife conflict, our findings show that outbreaks of infectious disease can aggravate conflict. Governments, farmers and hunters need to improve population control after outbreaks of infectious disease.

ABSTRACT Citizen science is a valuable tool for large‐scale ecological research, and community‐based approaches enhance scientific data while fostering environmental awareness among local residents. In 2021, the Taoyuan Algal Reef in Taiwan became a national focus during a referendum, yet public understanding of its ecology remained limited. To bridge this gap, we partnered with nearby residents to conduct a coastal habitat survey using a simple, standardized data collection method. Participants received training, and even after our team concluded the project, locals continued monitoring independently using the same method. To verify the reliability of data collected with and without scientific supervision, we compared the datasets statistically using coefficients of variation. Results showed no significant differences, demonstrating that independently collected data were reliable. This enabled us to combine the datasets for further biodiversity analysis, examining organism abundance, species richness, and the Shannon index. Findings revealed that pebble habitats had the highest Shannon index, whereas sand habitats exhibited the lowest values for abundance, richness, and diversity. Organism abundance peaked in the mid tide zone, with summer and autumn showing the highest abundance, richness, and Shannon index values. Using species accumulation curves with twice the sample size, we predicted richness and Shannon index across habitats, tidal zones, and seasons. Predictions largely aligned with quadrat‐scale findings, except that the sand habitat's predicted richness and diversity exceeded those of the algal reef habitat. Our research provides reliable, citizen science‐based insights to deepen understanding of this region, which has been a focal point of debate in Taiwan.