Public Perceptions of Wildlife Encounters in the Omaha, Nebraska, Metropolitan Area

wildlife management. Based on this information we plan to improve assistance criteria, educational materials, and programs relative to urban audiences. Site Description Across the Midwest, metropolitan areas are growing and converting rural and seminative lands to manicured landscapes. Simultaneously, previously established locations within the urban areas are maturing. Parks and residential areas are becoming sheltered habitats and oases for wildlife. These developments increase and add more variety to the encounters between wildlife and human population. On many occasions, University Extension personnel are entrusted with addressing such encounters. Being mindful of the nature of the problems in your locality can be beneficial, but knowing the specific occurrences alone is not adequate. Public attitudes play an important part in the decision-making process when dealing with human-wildlife interactions. Professionals who deal with humanwildlife encounters need to be cognizant of the public perception and attitudes. It has always been a challenge for extension personnel to uncover the best avenues to promote-awareness of particular programs. We conducted this study to determine (1) the occurrence of human-wildlife interaction in the greater Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area, (2) variations in interactions among urban habitat types, (3) the actions that people take in response to urban wildlife encounters, and (4) information channels that the public in this area uses to gain advice concerning 68 This metropolitan area includes two major cities, Omaha and Bellevue with populations of 335,795 and 33,550 respectively, and four small towns with a total population 23,174. The rural and suburban areas between and surrounding these cities and towns increase the site population by 17,960. The total population of the study site is 410,479. Owner occupied single family dwellings account for 62.7% of housing units in the area (Horton et al. 1991). The two major cities are border on the east by the Missouri river. In this location the river has been channelized and railways and large docks line the shores. Except for a few acres (ha) of park, the land has been cleared of all riparian habitat. The site contains 14 small rivers and creeks, 4 dam confinements, and over 32 parks. These areas contain favorable habitat for many wildlife species but are very constricted and isolated. Only six riparian areas have suitable cover to act as wildlife corridors. Land outside the cities and towns is primarily agricultural cropland. Numerous windbreaks are associated with the surrounding agricultural level but they are We developed a questionnaire …