Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions of Pet Amphibian Owners About Biosecurity Practices
Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions of Pet Amphibian Owners About Biosecurity Practices
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DOI：
10.1007/s10393-023-01645-8
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发表时间：
2023-07-24
期刊：
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Gray, Matthew J. J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cavasos, Kevin;Poudyal, Neelam C. C.;Gray, Matthew J. J.
全球贸易与新型病原体的出现和世界范围内两栖动物种群的减少有关。潜在的病原体在圈养两栖动物内部和之间的传播以及对野生种群的溢出使得了解宠物两栖动物主人的动机、知识、态度和行为变得非常重要。我们调查了美国宠物两栖动物的主人，以了解他们的特征，并评估他们是否以及如何与采取生物安全措施的行为意图相关联。我们发现，大多数宠物两栖动物的主人都意识到新出现的病原体的威胁，担心病原体从圈养到野生种群的潜在溢出，并愿意采取生物安全措施来减轻病原体的威胁。采取这种做法的意图更多地是由诸如态度、观念和信仰等社会心理结构驱动的，而不是人口特征。宠物两栖动物的主人也表达了对获得无病动物的强烈兴趣，并愿意支付溢价。这些发现促进了我们对宠物主人的特征、动机和行为的理解，宠物主人是全球两栖动物贸易的关键利益相关者，这可能有助于制定新的政策和推广策略，使他们参与减轻病原体威胁。此外，我们的研究结果表明，以市场为基础的计划在促进无病原体、可持续的两栖动物贸易方面具有经济可行性。
Global trade has been linked with the emergence of novel pathogens and declines in amphibian populations worldwide. The potential for pathogen transmission within and between collections of captive amphibians and spillover to wild populations makes it important to understand the motivations, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of pet amphibian owners. We surveyed US pet amphibian owners to understand their characteristics and evaluated whether and how they were associated with behavioral intentions to adopt biosecurity practices. We found that the majority of pet amphibian owners are aware of the threat of emerging pathogens, concerned about potential spillover of pathogens from captive to wild populations and willing to adopt biosecurity practices to mitigate pathogen threats. Intentions to adopt such practices were driven more by psychosocial constructs such as attitudes, perceptions and beliefs than demographic characteristics. Pet amphibian owners also expressed a strong interest in acquiring, and willingness to pay a price premium for, certified disease-free animals. These findings advance our understanding of the characteristics, motivations and behaviors of pet owners, a key stakeholder in global amphibian trade, which could help to inform new policies and outreach strategies to engage them in mitigating pathogen threats. Moreover, our results imply the economic viability of a market-based program to promote pathogen-free, sustainable trade of amphibians.