Knowledge and attitude towards wild carnivores among university students: a study from Kargil Trans-Himalaya, India

Several studies have reflected that the success of wildlife conservation approaches and efforts are determined by local people’s knowledge and attitude toward the target wildlife species. It is critical to have a favourable attitude of the local communities towards wildlife for implementing successful conservation efforts that involve public participation. We conducted this study in Kargil Trans-Himalaya, India to understand the knowledge and attitude of local undergraduate and postgraduate students towards wildlife in general, and wild carnivores in particular. To achieve the objectives of this study, an online semi-structured questionnaire was drafted and distributed among student residents of Kargil pursuing their higher education degrees from Kargil and other parts of India. We received a total of 385 responses, and 362 were considered fit for the study. The total knowledge score for the respondents ranged from 3–12 out of 12, with a mean score of 9.68 ± 1.565. With the overall attitude score ranging from 4–12 out of 12, and a mean score of 10.19 ± 1.417, students in higher education from Kargil possess a favourable attitude towards the wildlife of the region. The Spearman’s correlation between knowledge and attitude score was weak, rs = 0.255, p < .001, N = 362. The knowledge and attitudes of local students towards wild carnivore species should be considered for effective long-term conservation efforts. This could be accomplished by timely sustainable conservation education and awareness initiatives. Although this study tries to explore an important factor to be considered in wildlife conservation efforts from a less explored region in the trans-Himalaya, future studies can intensively look into the factors that influence the formation of social attitudes toward wildlife.