Data from: How can we tackle interruptions to human-wildlife feeding management? Adding media campaigns to the wildlife manager’s toolbox

In recent years, wildlife managers have been seeking ways to reduce the
occurrence of independent, recreational human-wildlife feeding
interactions, which continue to gain global popularity and may have
negative effects on the humans and wildlife involved. Current popular
methods, such as signage and posters, have yielded mixed results and their
application is often interrupted, though the effects of these
interruptions on feeding levels are currently unknown. This has led to
calls to both identify a management option that can be applied
successfully from a distance and to determine whether this action may
assist in recovering long-term programmes from the potential effects of
interruptions. Marketing and media tools have been shown to successfully
change human behaviours in conservation campaigns, flagging them as a
potential tool that could be applied to human-wildlife feeding
management.  Here, we performed a 4-year study using a wild
fallow deer population in a popular urban green space as our model system.
We tracked changes in human feeding behaviours across four different
management stages. These included pre-management (stage 1), during
traditional management (i.e. “don’t feed the deer” signage, stage 2),
mid-interruption (i.e. COVID-19 pandemic, stage 3), and during the
application of a structured media campaign (stage 4).  We found
that feeding by visitors decreased during traditional management (stage
2), but rapidly returned to pre-management levels during the interruption
(stage 3) despite traditional controls still being in place. However, we
discovered that feeding dropped significantly after the release of a media
campaign (stage 4), despite the audience and conditions being unchanged.
We also identified which imagery and educational messages resonated with
viewers; information that can be applied to future campaigns in other
locations. We, therefore, recommend that wildlife managers both
investigate and be prepared for the negative effects that interruptions of
any type (e.g. the recent COVID-19 pandemic, other interruptions to
funding) may have on ongoing management campaigns of this ilk. We
recommend that media campaigns be explored as a potential tool to reduce
the occurrence of the unregulated feeding of wildlife by humans in these
sites, thereby promoting better human-wildlife coexistence.