Photo credit: J. Packer.
By Jasmin Packer, Mark Kohler, Dolly Dawson, Nusrat Asad, Rosslyn von der Borch, and Anna Chur-Hansen.
Dog walking in nature reserves benefits dog walkers and their dogs, but off lead dogs threaten wildlife that live there. Legal requirements to protect wildlife by having your dog on lead are often ignored and rarely enforced, so more effective ways to reduce dog–wildlife conflict are needed.
As the first step towards dog walking behaviour change in an Australian biodiversity hotspot, we used open-ended interviews to explore the richness of reasons why and how people walk their dog in a nature reserve protecting endangered wildlife.
We found that where people walk their dog is driven by personal motivations (valuing the natural atmosphere and/or accessibility near home), but how they walk is driven by social norms (on or off lead to balance their dog’s need for exercise and freedom with protecting their dog and own integrity from conflict).
Our study shows that people who keep their dog on lead in a nature reserve are leading the way by caring for their dog and protecting wildlife and others, but also by influencing how other dog walkers behave.
Relational Thinking 