Polarizing discursive practices in conversations about wildlife comeback: a topical review

The presence of wildlife in human-dominated areas may result in wildlife-related conflicts when encounters between humans and wild animals are perceived negatively. It is important to mitigate these conflicts in order to conserve wildlife populations. The intractability of wildlife-related conflicts is to a large extent caused by how people communicate. In this topical review, we therefore explore the discursive practices that are employed in conversations about the presence of wildlife. We synthesized the findings of seven publications that met the inclusion criteria and grouped these into three overarching categories of discursive practices: 1) positioning of self, others, and animals; 2) (de)legitimizing perspectives and the presence of wildlife; and 3) creating dichotomies. These practices emphasize the differences between discursive actors and, therefore, contribute to social division and polarization. The insights this review provides can advance the understanding of the intractability of conflict, which is important for wildlife conservation.