Mihai POP, Research and Development Institute for Wildlife and Mountain Resources/University of Bucharest/ Association for the Conservation of Biological Diversity

Human-bear coexistence is under pressure in Europe due to the increase in conflicts. Within the Co-creating Coexistence project running in 12 EU countries, we were interested in how perceptions of the damage trend, emotions, and information sources vary based on farmers' age and experience. The Romanian sample includes 96 respondents, mostly men (92.7%), with a mean age of 48.0 years (SD=11.7), a mean of 30.2 years of experience (SD=13.3), with 72.9% managing sheep and 24.0% cattle. Perceived bear impact is 59.4% very negative, 29.2% negative. Official municipal records show bear damages fell slightly from 2023 to 2025, yet 37.5% of shepherds say damages are significantly increasing, and only 5.2% perceive a decrease. Farmers aged 40-50 are the most pessimistic, 42.9% perceiving a significant increase in damages, compared with only 30.8% of those over 60. Negative emotions predominate among farmers. Worry is the dominant feeling (75% feel it strongly/very strongly), followed by anger (52.1%) and fear (31.2%). In contrast, positive emotions are virtually absent: only 2.1% feel pride, 9.4% admiration, and 16.7% curiosity. Negative emotions decline with age, while positive emotions peak in the 40-50 group. Farmers with 20-30 years of experience show the highest anger levels. Farmers’ main information sources about wildlife are hunting associations (26%), traditional media (20.8%), and peers (19.8%). Researchers are virtually ignored across all farmers, with 3.6% usage in any age group and 0% in groups over 50 or with more than 30 years of experience. This trust gap in scientific expertise is a major barrier to implementing evidence-based solutions. Negative emotions have implications for social acceptance, and current communication appears ineffective, farmers rely primarily on informal sources rather than technical expertise. Significant differences among the four pilot areas indicate the need for differentiated approaches in communication and coexistence solutions.