Journal for Nature Conservation 29 (2016) 25–32 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal for Nature Conservation journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/jnc Cultural viability of reintroducing the ecologically extinct Alagoas Curassow (Pauxi mitu Linnaeus, 1766) to Northeast Brazil Gabriela M. Gama a,∗ , Ana C.M. Malhado a , Chiara Bragagnolo a , Ricardo A. Correia a,b , Richard J. Ladle a,b a Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Av. Lourival Melo Mota, s/n, Tabuleiro do Martins, Maceió, AL 57072-900, Brazil b School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 6 February 2015 Received in revised form 12 October 2015 Accepted 23 October 2015 Keywords: Community attitudes Reintroduction Human dimensions Local knowledge Multimodel inference a b s t r a c t The Alagoas Curassow (Pauxi mitu) became extinct in the wild in the 1980’s through a combination of loss/degradation of its Atlantic Forest habitat and over-hunting. Ambitious plans are now underway to reintroduce captive-reared Curassows using a patchwork of protected forest fragments on private lands. Although the planned reintroduction sites are broadly ecologically suitable, it is not clear that the threats from hunting and habitat disturbance have been removed. In other words, the cultural (as opposed to biological) suitability and viability of these sites is unknown. We used a semi-structured social survey of 402 residents who live near three proposed reintroduction sites to evaluate the cultural suitability of the reintroduction. Specifically, we adopted a multimodel inference approach to identify socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education level, duration of residence), knowledge (e.g., of local biodiversity and hunting practices) and behaviors (e.g., bushmeat consumption and firewood collection) that influence support for the reintroduction. Respondents were generally positive to bringing the Curassow back, though our data indicates that hunting is still a major part of the local culture. Support for the reintroduction was most strongly associated with older and, especially, better educated residents. Residents from different reintroduction sites also differed in their professed levels of support. Our results highlight the importance of focused environmental educational programmes to improve the cultural feasibility of this flagship reintroduction for Northeast Brazil. © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Increasing the effectiveness of conservation interventions in human-modified landscapes is a major challenge for researchers and practitioners. Modern conservation is increasingly recogniz- ing the key influence of humans in shaping ecosystems dynamics through resource use and other interactions (Berkes, 2004). Indeed, human behavior is the main driver for changes in the global envi- ronment (Chapin et al., 2000) and, ultimately, conservation goals can only be achieved by modifying how and where humans inter- act with nature (Schultz, 2011). Thus, identifying and accounting for patterns of human–environment interactions is typically one of the main determinants of the success (or failure) of biodiversity conservation initiatives (Mascia et al., 2003). Human interactions with the natural environment (e.g., hunting, polluting, etc.) are generally associated with concordant attitudes ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: gabrielamgama@gmail.com (G.M. Gama). and values (Ajzen, 1991; Gifford and Sussman, 2012). Conversely, attitudes can be used to broadly identify and predict behaviors under different scenarios. Such predictions can be further improved though the addition of information on the subject’s knowledge and past behavior. A deep understanding of the factors that influ- ence human attitudes and behavior towards the local environment may therefore provide valuable insights for designing effective con- servation interventions, especially when they are combined with biological and ecological data, such as species distribution models (Weston, Miller, Lawson, & Ehmke, 2012). Nevertheless, despite the potentially pivotal role of human–environment interactions, the success of many conservation initiatives has often been compro- mised by insufficient attention to the social dimension (Reading, Clark, & Kellert, 1991). Reintroduction is a good example of a conservation interven- tion in which the behavior of the local human population is critical for the long term success of the intervention. This wildlife man- agement tool aims to establish a self-sustaining population in the species former range and, from a biological perspective, is depen- dent on the existence of suitable habitats and a captive bred or wild http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2015.10.005 1617-1381/© 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.