Assessing a Website's Ability to Provide Human–Wildlife Conflict Information: A Case Example from Nebraska

Abstract: Human–wildlife interactions are becoming increasingly common across the Great Plains with the expansion of urban areas, and there is a need to improve the dissemination of human–wildlife management information. Simultaneously, state and federal wildlife agencies and extension specialists in the land-grant university system are faced with prioritizing limited resources to help deliver relevant human–wildlife conflict information to the public. These challenges require innovative approaches and evaluations of the available materials to ensure the effective delivery of human-wildlife information. We developed a case example where we evaluated the utility of the Nebraska Extension Wildlife Website to help other states identify opportunities to strategically target human-wildlife conflict information to the public. Our survey objectives were to measure the comprehensiveness of information on the website, recognize the wildlife-related questions wildlife professionals are receiving from the public, and to understand how the website can be adapted to reduce negative human-wildlife interactions. The results indicate that the website would be more beneficial in reducing human-wildlife conflicts if the information is displayed in consistent and convenient formats, scientific articles are replaced with condensed overviews, and visual representation of human-wildlife conflicts are added. This study illustrated the need to invest in the development of human-wildlife management platforms that are customized for the public.