Biology Reference
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alternative repellant tactics for people at the human-macaque interface. This
can include repelling macaques with water from hoses from a distance, a safe
and effective measure unlikely to provoke an aggressive response, as they don't
appear to associate being struck with water as an attack from humans. Another
important consideration is that counter-aggression displayed by macaques may
not be directed at the individual performing the irresponsible behavior, but to
innocent bystanders.
Education and persuasive communication efforts are cited as preferred miti-
gation strategies for addressing undesirable conservation-related and public
health behaviors (Box 12.1 and Box 12.2). Education may be preferred for
a number of reasons: (1) it is an enduring solution that transcends many con-
texts; (2) it retains freedom of choice and is typically less intrusive; and (3) it
is thought to be less expensive than other alternatives.
Educational activities can teach how to safely interact with macaques and
instill a commitment on the part of the community to a more peaceful interface.
Educational campaigns can focus on children, as well as adults, and should
be particularly focused on people at the interface. Campaigns can be tailored
by utilizing research from macaque programs in that area. Teaching commu-
nities about their macaques, and about the individuality of these macaques,
can establish familiarity, which can foster positive attitudes towards macaques.
Educational campaigns can also disseminate information about regulations
established to control interface zones, and delineate norms for moving and liv-
ing around macaques. Overall, educational campaigns alone will not remove
human-macaque conflict, but they can alter a community's perception, estab-
lish greater tolerance, and direct people to act safely around macaques. Finally,
education can convince community members to value the human-macaque
community.
It is important to note that people who implement educational campaigns
often embark on them rather naively, assuming that by simply making infor-
mation available, behavior change will follow. In reality, effective programs
based on communication are notoriously difficult to develop. Various factors
confound the ability to persuade someone with informational messages (Wood,
2000
). For instance, the extent of attitude and behavior change may depend
upon the channel of communication, the source of the message, the strength
of the arguments presented, the subject's prior knowledge, and the strength
and function of his or her existing attitude(s) (Eagly and Chaiken,
1993
; Petty
and Cacioppo,
1996
; Wood,
2000
). While research has been unable to identify
broadly general conclusions about persuasion, important conceptual advance-
ments have been made in recent decades that can effectively guide communica-
tion programs (Crano and Prislin,
2006
). The long-term goal of the education
campaigns should be to alter conflicts at the human-primate interface. While
