{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T18:07:51Z","timestamp":1790878071140,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]],"date-time":"2025-04-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745366400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Effective conservation of large mammals depends on how people perceive them. Grey wolves have a widespread distribution globally, and their recent recolonization of human-dominated landscapes offers an excellent opportunity to understand the heterogeneity in their perception across continents. Our analysis included all quantitative studies (118 articles) conducted in 35 countries through a systematic review process, published globally between 1980\u20132023 and indexed in Web of Science and Google Scholar. Fifty-four percent of the studies reported a negative perception toward wolves. Most studies conducted in Asia reported a negative perception, while 56% of studies conducted in Europe and 48% in North America reported a positive perception. Fifty-four percent of studies from Western Europe and forty percent of studies from Slavic Russian cultural regions reported positive perceptions. Respondents from low-income countries elicited the most negative perceptions. We identified the predominant religion and economic status of a country as dominant factors determining perception. Studies conducted in countries with Hinduism as the predominant religion reported a negative perception toward wolves. We recommend that future studies on human\u2013wolf interactions must prioritize regions within central Europe, parts of Asia, and Russia. A global human\u2013wolf coexistence strategy should consider the social factors driving attitude toward the species.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15091196","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]],"date-time":"2025-04-23T06:38:37Z","timestamp":1745390317000},"page":"1196","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Perception Toward Wolves Are Driven by Economic Status and Religion Across Their Distribution Range"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Dipanjan","family":"Naha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent Researcher, Kolkata 700047, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefanie","family":"D\u00f6ringer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of National Park Monitoring and Animal Management, Bavarian Forest National Park, FreyungerStra\u00dfe, 94481 Grafenau, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, Universit\u00e4tsstra\u00dfe, 1010 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0051-2930","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Heurich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of National Park Monitoring and Animal Management, Bavarian Forest National Park, FreyungerStra\u00dfe, 94481 Grafenau, Germany"},{"name":"Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Evenstads Vei 80, 2480 Koppang, Norway"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1241484","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1241484","article-title":"Status and ecological effects of the world\u2019s largest carnivores","volume":"343","author":"Ripple","year":"2014","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6040","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1205106","article-title":"Trophic downgrading of planet Earth","volume":"333","author":"Estes","year":"2011","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"170052","DOI":"10.1098\/rsos.170052","article-title":"Range contractions of the world\u2019s large carnivores","volume":"4","author":"Wolf","year":"2017","journal-title":"R. 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