Negative attitudes of an indigenous community are associated with lethal control of rodents in a temperate forest of Mexico

Margarita Gil-Fernández; Diana Lucrecia Ruíz-Ramírez; Johannes J. Le Roux; Christian A. Delfín-Alfonso; M. Cristina MacSwiney G.; Alexandra J. R. Carthey; Ross T. Shackleton

doi:10.1002/2688-8319.70198

Negative attitudes of an indigenous community are associated with lethal control of rodents in a temperate forest of Mexico

Margarita Gil-Fernández^*, Diana Lucrecia Ruíz-Ramírez, Johannes J. Le Roux, Christian A. Delfín-Alfonso, M. Cristina MacSwiney G., Alexandra J. R. Carthey, Ross T. Shackleton

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Natural Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

1. Rodents have been unwanted human commensals for millennia, as they can decimate crops and spread diseases. However, rodents perform essential ecological functions, and promoting awareness about this could boost native rodent conservation and increase awareness of animal welfare.

2. We aimed to unpack the knowledge, attitudes and control practices of farmers and foresters towards rodents from an indigenous community in Nuevo San Juan, Michoacan, Mexico.

3. We conducted 108 in-person interviews. Attitudes towards rodents were mostly positive; 63% of the respondents had a positive attitude, and 29% had a negative attitude towards them. Although most respondents knew that rodents could transmit diseases (92%), less than half could name these diseases (44%). The most common rodent control method was trapping (27.3%). Most respondents agreed that rodents have the right to live and were aware of some of their ecological functions.

4. Practical implications. Our findings could act as building blocks to foster native rodent conservation in the area and enhance the potential of management focused on the application of preventive measures rather than lethal control.

Original language	English
Article number	e70198
Pages (from-to)	1-13
Number of pages	13
Journal	Ecological Solutions and Evidence
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70198
Publication status	Published - Jan 2026

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2026. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

animal welfare
endangered rodents
indigenous knowledge
peoples' wildlife perceptions
rodent control

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10.1002/2688-8319.70198

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 1.08 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

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Gil-Fernández, M., Ruíz-Ramírez, D. L., Le Roux, J. J., Delfín-Alfonso, C. A., MacSwiney G., M. C., Carthey, A. J. R., & Shackleton, R. T. (2026). Negative attitudes of an indigenous community are associated with lethal control of rodents in a temperate forest of Mexico. Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 7(1), 1-13. Article e70198. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70198

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abstract = "1. Rodents have been unwanted human commensals for millennia, as they can decimate crops and spread diseases. However, rodents perform essential ecological functions, and promoting awareness about this could boost native rodent conservation and increase awareness of animal welfare. 2. We aimed to unpack the knowledge, attitudes and control practices of farmers and foresters towards rodents from an indigenous community in Nuevo San Juan, Michoacan, Mexico. 3. We conducted 108 in-person interviews. Attitudes towards rodents were mostly positive; 63\% of the respondents had a positive attitude, and 29\% had a negative attitude towards them. Although most respondents knew that rodents could transmit diseases (92\%), less than half could name these diseases (44\%). The most common rodent control method was trapping (27.3\%). Most respondents agreed that rodents have the right to live and were aware of some of their ecological functions. 4. Practical implications. Our findings could act as building blocks to foster native rodent conservation in the area and enhance the potential of management focused on the application of preventive measures rather than lethal control.",

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AU - Carthey, Alexandra J. R.

AU - Shackleton, Ross T.

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N2 - 1. Rodents have been unwanted human commensals for millennia, as they can decimate crops and spread diseases. However, rodents perform essential ecological functions, and promoting awareness about this could boost native rodent conservation and increase awareness of animal welfare. 2. We aimed to unpack the knowledge, attitudes and control practices of farmers and foresters towards rodents from an indigenous community in Nuevo San Juan, Michoacan, Mexico. 3. We conducted 108 in-person interviews. Attitudes towards rodents were mostly positive; 63% of the respondents had a positive attitude, and 29% had a negative attitude towards them. Although most respondents knew that rodents could transmit diseases (92%), less than half could name these diseases (44%). The most common rodent control method was trapping (27.3%). Most respondents agreed that rodents have the right to live and were aware of some of their ecological functions. 4. Practical implications. Our findings could act as building blocks to foster native rodent conservation in the area and enhance the potential of management focused on the application of preventive measures rather than lethal control.

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Negative attitudes of an indigenous community are associated with lethal control of rodents in a temperate forest of Mexico

Abstract

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Keywords

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