Quais fatores que influenciam na aversão de estudantes a répteis?

Abstract

Several factors can influence the attitudes of humans towards animals, such as beliefs, feelings, culture and knowledge. The growing process of urbanization has favored the distance between humans and nature, which may increase apathy, aversion and ignorance about wildlife. In this sense, the present study aimed to investigate the aversion and non-conservationist attitudes towards reptiles, as well as to experimentally evaluate the effect of practical exposures as a strategy to mitigate attitudes of aversion and non-conservationists. The data were obtained through the application of a questionnaire on the aversion and conservation of three reptiles (chelonian, snake and lizard). A total of 133 students were involved in this research, 72 from basic education and 61 from higher education. The questionnaire was applied at two different times, one before the visit to the zoo and another after the visit, in which all students of basic education participated, who manipulated the animals, having direct contact with them. We comply with all ethical requirements for carrying out the research. Both the attitudes of aversion and the attitudes related to conservation differed between the three species of reptiles evaluated. This pattern did not differ between the sex of the students, but it did influence the level of education and type of academic training (for students of higher education). The snake was considered the most aversive animal. Higher education students had less aversion to chelonian and lizard, compared to students of basic education. Undergraduate students in Biological Sciences had less aversion than undergraduate students of Mathematics for the three animals. The handling of animals contributed significantly to the reduction of aversion and non-conservationist attitudes. The habit of visiting exhibition sites, handling and recognizing animals was negatively related to aversion. Fear was positively related. We found that aversion to reptiles varies according to the taxon, with the snake being the animal with the greatest dislike for students. Schooling and type of training is a factor that contributes to reducing registered aversion, showing that knowledge about species and their importance is an important aspect in establishing measures for the conservation of reptiles, especially when the acquisition of information about the species. species is associated with practical activities that includes contact with animals.