This thesis explores how people in mountainous regions of Albania interrelate with large carnivores. For the research, I used a combination of questionnaire survey and ethnographic fieldwork to generate insights into how rural dwellers perceive and interact with bears, wolves and lynx. Research and conservation efforts relating to large carnivores in areas where they live near humans often have a strong focus on human-wildlife conflicts; with the presumption that conflicts are a central part of people’s relationships with predators. I argue that, although conflicts between people and predators do occur, human-predator relationships in highland Albania are complex and diverse, beyond a simple engagement with conflict-causing animals. Large carnivores have rich local cultural profiles; each species being differently perceived, and responded to, by local groups in terms of their beliefs about the behaviours and characteristics of the animals. I argue that large carnivores are constructed, and responded to, as social actors and, as such, they are integrated into the moral community of humans. Customary codes that regulate the social life of people in highland Albania seem to extend into relationships with carnivores. Damages from predators are largely interpreted and evaluated on principles of belonging and moral integrity with little considerations of their financial aspects. Lack of conservation efforts from Albanian institutions for prolonged periods of time, and the remoteness of mountain communities, has brought about a situation in which locals have been largely left uninfluenced in shaping their relationships with large carnivores. I contend that such a situation, albeit seemingly problematic from an outside perspective, is particularly beneficial in maintaining low conflicts with, or over, predators. Recent increases in conservation efforts in Albania may influence relationships between people and predators in the future. Conservation actors will be faced with the challenge of avoiding possible conflict escalation to the detriment of large carnivores and to rural livelihoods.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2013-03-04Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:06:22Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 oliveira_d_dr_jabo.pdf: 455703 bytes, checksum: 080a21cd008c8caa1a71be4965ed6195 (MD5) / Pesquisas com ratos e humanos têm comprovado que o estímulo tátil é um importante componente no desenvolvimento físico e psicológico dos filhotes. Os estudos com animais de produção são em menor número, e exploram pouco o potencial desta tecnologia como moduladora do temperamento e crescimento corporal. Na presente pesquisa, a estimulação tátil foi testada em filhotes neonatos de ovinos e suínos sob os efeitos no seu comportamento, na qualidade das interações entre humano e animais e desenvolvimento corporal ao longo do tempo. O estímulo foi aplicado diariamente nos cordeiros do grupo estimulado por 5 minutos, no experimento 1 do 1º ao 60º dia e no experimento 2 do 1º ao 21º dia de vida. Os cordeiros foram pesados posteriormente aos 30 e 60 dias de vida e os leitões na 5ª, 9ª e 12ª semana de vida. A cada sessão de estimulação, o comportamento das ovelhas e cordeiros foi registrado continuamente, e a reação ao estímulo controlada ao longo do tempo. Os leitões foram divididos entre diferentes tratamentos; H: todos da ninhada receberam o estímulo tátil, NH: nenhum animal da ninhada recebeu estímulo tátil, 50/50H: metade da ninhada que recebeu estímulo tátil, 50/50NH: metade que não recebeu estímulo tátil. Os leitões estimulados (H e 50/50H) experimentaram o estímulo por 2 minutos diários, do 5º ao 35º dia de vida. Eles foram avaliados individualmente, e a evolução da reação ao estímulo medida através de uma escala que variava de 1 a 4 (menos reativo para mais reativo). Com 4 semanas de idade, os leitões foram submetidos a um teste de aproximação humana, com uma pessoa familiar e outra não-familiar, dividido em 3 fases, 1) fase de isolamento, 2) fase passiva humana, 3) fase ativa humana. A atividade dos leitões e vocalizações foram medidas no teste. Todos os animais foram pesados ao nascer, na 5ª, 9ª e 12ª semana de vida... / Previous research with rats and humans have shown that tactile stimulation is an important component in the physical and psychological development of neonates. Fewer studies had been developed with farm animals, especially those who explore the potential of this technology as a modulator of temperament and body development. In the present study, the tactile stimulation was tested in newborn lambs and piglets upon the effects on their behavior, in the human-animal interactions and body development over time. The stimulus was applied daily in lambs (stimulated group) for 5 minutes in experiment 1 from the 1st to the 60th day and in experiment 2 from the 1st to the 21th day of life. The lambs were weighed at birth, at 30 and 60 days old. In each stimulation session, the behavior of the dams and lambs was recorded continuously, and reaction to stimuli controlled over time. The piglets were divided between different treatments, H: all the litter received the tactile stimulus, NH: no animal received tactile stimulation, 50/50H: half the litter received tactile stimulation, 50/50NH: half of the litter did not receive tactile stimulation. The stimulated piglets (H and 50/50H) experienced the stimulus for 2 minutes daily, from 5th to 35th day of life. The piglets were also evaluated individually, and the evolution of their reaction to the stimulus measured using a scale that ranged from 1 to 4 (least reactive to most reactive). With 4 weeks of age, piglets were subjected to a human approach test, with a familiar and an unfamiliar person, divided into 3 phases, 1) isolation phase, 2) stationary human, 3) moving human. Piglets’ acitivity and vocalisations were measured in the test. The animals were weighted at birth and at 5th, 9th and 12th week of life. Multivariate factor analyzes were conducted to assess associations between behavior and performance variables... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Gerad Middendorf / Academics, victims, and advocates have increasingly brought attention to the need for programs and policies to protect and shelter nonhuman victims of domestic violence. Research focused on the “Link” between human-based violence and violence against animals has played a significant role in the creation of these programs, and has prompted a more holistic approach to providing services to all victimized family members. In this dissertation, I focus on the unique origin points of several animal-friendly domestic violence organizations and the models used to serve both human and nonhuman victims, as well as on the individual advocacy and activism of animal-friendly domestic violence organization workers. Data collection from semi-structured interviews with thirty domestic violence workers and advocates provides the foundation for my investigation of the importance of community networks and individual identity as a source of professional navigation of the connected spheres of domestic violence and animal abuse. This study extends the ever-growing collection of research on the “Link” and on the broader discipline of human-animal studies. Finally, this research provides an additional perspective on the use of personal and collective identity to engage in advocacy on behalf of nonhuman victims of domestic violence.

The deposition of animals in graves was an essential aspect of burial practice in Scandinavia during the Vendel Period and Viking Age (550–1050 AD). While this rite occurs in many different regions, it is most clearly observed in the boat-graves from the famous cemeteries in Swedish Uppland, such as Vendel and Valsgärde, as well as in a number of high-status cremation graves. Former studies have tended to interpret faunal remains from burial contexts as food offerings, diplomatic gifts or simply as sacrifices. These explanations place an emphasis on the importance of the human dead and imply that grave assemblages mainly served to accompany the deceased as a provision for the afterlife, or to illustrate power, status and identity among the living. The master’s thesis presented here, comprises an analysis of animal depositions from both cremation and inhumation burials in Uppland. By applying the theory of agency, this study focuses on grave assemblages and human-animal relationships as a means of understanding burial practices. Instead of only paying attention to the type of bones and the animal species, it is equally important to consider the condition of the bones, their placement inside the grave and the placement of artefacts ascribed to certain animals in relation to the human dead. This is not only essential to decoding human-animal relationships as evident in burial practices, but also to understanding the many different processes that culminated in the deposition of animal bones in graves.

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Depuis une quarantaine d'années la place des animaux est devenue problématique et a été re-problématisée dans les sociétés occidentales contemporaines. La montée de la prise en compte sociale des intérêts des animaux, de la bienveillance à leur égard, recompose les représentations << traditionnelles » et « modernes » du monde animal. A travers l'exemple du développement des pratiques de soin par le contact animalier (Zoothérapie, Thérapie Assistée par l'Animal, Médiation Animale ... ), j'analyse les mécanismes de revalorisation de la présence animale auprès des humains. Ces pratiques contribuent à l'avènement d'un nouveau régime de compagnonnage anthropozoologique, dans lequel la bienveillance vis,à-vis de l'animal occupe une grande place. L'hypothèse de ce travail est que la reconnaissance d'une valeur thérapeutique au contact avec l'animal permet de rendre cette bienveillance légitime et d'enrôler tout un réseau d'acteurs autorisant le développement à grande échelle de ce nouveau régime relationnel. Ainsi, j'ai suivi comment la conviction selon laquelle l'interaction avec l'animal améliore une relation de soin "classique", a pu naître, être diffusée, mise à l'épreuve du travail scientifique, et s'actualiser dans des pratiques concrètes. La première partie aborde la constitution d'un champ de savoir autonome autour des questions de l'interaction avec l'animal à but thérapeutique, à travers une analyse bibliographique. La deuxième partie traite des réseaux d'acteurs qui ont promu le soin par le contact animalier,son développement, sa professionnalisation et sa standardisation. Enfin, une troisième partie décrit plus particulièrement les pratiques, en situation, à travers l'analyse d'observations ethnographiques et d'entretiens. / Since forty years, place of the animals become problematic in the contemporary western societies. The ascent of the social consideration of the interests of animals, benevolence towards them, recomposes the "traditional " and "modem" representations of the animal kingdom. Through the exemple of the development of the practices of care using animal contact (Zootherapy, Animal-Assisted Therapy) I analyze the mechanisms of revalorization of the animal presence with the buman beings. These practices contribute to the advent of a new regime of anthrozoological companionship, in which the benevolence towards the animal plays a big role. The hypothesis of this work is that the recognition of a therapeutic value in the contact with animais allows to return thisjustifiable benevolence and to enlist a whole actors' network authorizing the large-scale development of this new "relational regime." I followed how the conviction tbat interaction with the animal improves a "classic" relation of care, was born, spread, put to the test of the scientific work, and became accomplished in concrete practices. The first part approaches the constitution of a field of autonomous knowledge about interactions with animals with therapeutic purpose, through a bibliographical analysis. The second part deals with actors' networks whichh promoted the care by the animal contact, its development, its professionalization and its standardization. Finally, the third part describes more particularly the situated practices, through the analysis of ethnographicalobservations and interviews.

This dissertation explores the interface between people, horses and architecture as an edge, which allows it the opportunity to facilitate relationships and accommodate multiple users. City edges currently present themselves as fences and walls. This dissertation aims to engage with and reinterpret these edges, while simultaneously shifting the boundaries between people and animals. The Public Works Department ground in Museum Park is an appropriate place to investigate edges as it currently has segregating boundaries, yet lends itself to the reintroduction of a historical function into the city. By considering life other than human life, architecture’s anthropocentric tendencies are subverted, and the segregating nature of the existing site’s barriers reinterpreted, through the exploration of physical and mental edges. / Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2014 / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

According to Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) a key function of cultural worldviews is facilitating people's belief that they are different from animals and therefore more than physical creatures fated to obliteration upon death. We sought to investigate the relationship between peoples’ perceived similarity to animals (PSA) and their investment in their ingroup cultural-worldviews, creativity and personal achievement, as ways of managing their awareness of death. We focused on four central hypotheses: (1) high faith in cultural worldviews should reduce PSA; (2) people who view themselves less similar to animals (low-PSA) should be more invested in their cultural worldview, especially after death primes; (3) people who view themselves as more similar to animals (high-PSA), should invest more in personal achievement and creativity as a terror management strategy and (4) be more prone to experience anxiety, particularly after a threat to their creativity. Supporting Hypotheses 1 and 2 we found that: validation of cultural worldviews reduces PSA (Study 1); low-PSA individuals cared more about their ingroup identity and worldviews and perceived other cultures as more different (Studies 2a-2b); after death primes low-PSA individuals defended their groups' cultural worldview more (Studies 3-4), and liked people from other cultures less (Studies 5-6). Hypothesis 3 was partially supported: PSA was positively correlated to importance of creativity, openness and performance on a creativity task (Studies 7, 9 and 10), but it was not correlated with self-reported or projected need for achievement (Studies 7 and 8), or with creative story writing (Studies 8). Hypothesis 4 was also partially supported: PSA was positively related to trait-anxiety (Study 9), and to levels of death thought accessibility (Study 10), and high-PSA individuals experienced more anxiety after receiving negative feedback about their creativity (Study 10). The implications these findings to the field of social psychology are discussed.

This Master thesis contains a risk assessment regarding the possibility for humans to be bitten by dogs in Denmark. As a part of this risk assessment the thesis contains an analysis of the effect of the introduction of legal bans of specific breeds in Denmark. Furthermore, the thesis contains an analysis of the societal context for the Danish legislation. This is done with back ground in models of risk management developed by James Reason and William Haddon Jr. The conclusion is that the Danish society continuously is vulnerable regarding the risk of humans being bitten by dogs – and that the ban of certain breeds have been without effect on the number of persons seeking hospital care for dog bites. The thesis demonstrates that the risk of human dog bites is highest in the private sphere and in the local area. The thesis reveal that the Danish state has failed to target the principal factors: context, situation and relation between man and dog in connection to situations where dog bites occur. / <p>Bedømt til karakteren "VG".</p>

This dissertation deals with the economic aspect of culture and focuses on the patterns of renewable natural resources utilisation among the people living in the Matutuine District of Southern Mozambique. The study also focuses on the demography, history and socio-political organisation of the area. Against this background the study emphasises the importance of the fact that these aspects will have to be taken into account if the establishment of the planned Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area in the same region is to be in any way successful. This area has no conservation status at present but has been earmarked to become part of the Lumbobo Transfrontier Conservation Area. This will mean that the entire area, or a substantial part thereof, will have to be proclaimed as a protected area. In Southern Africa the establishment of conservation areas have often been coupled with the removal of people from such areas. People removed from land declared as nature conservation areas were often denied access to resources they previously utilised to survive. The research findings indicate that the local people who live in the Matutuine District of Mozambique are extremely dependent on the natural environment for their everyday survival. The vast majority of people are concentrated in small villages where they practise subsistence agriculture. Due to nutrient poor soils and other factors, the local people are not able to produce enough foodstuffs to fulfil their survival needs. Although most people own small stock, the absolute minority of people own cattle. This is largely, although not solely attributable to the turbulent history of the area, especially the effects of the Mozambican Civil War. The poverty of the people in the area increases their dependence on natural resources. Local people supplement their diets by fish, caught in the lakes and rivers in the area, and wild fruits. Due to the effects of the Civil War, most fauna in the area have been depleted but people still hunt wild animals, especially small game, for food. The local people are thus extremely dependent on the resource base of the area earmarked to become part of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area. With the information presented in this study it is possible for the planners of the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area to devise a strategy that will not impair the livelihoods of the local people who live in the area, but instead accommodate their socio-economic needs in the planning process and in the eventual establishment of the Lubobo Transfrontier Conservation Area. / Dissertation (MA (Anthropology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Anthropology and Archaeology / Unrestricted