Attention to epistemological relationships between Indigenous and local knowledges (ILK) and conservation science is increasing. Some approaches for doing so have been developed, but in general, serious engagement between ILK and science still feels experimental and does not have broad uptake. Here we address some of the main issues that arise when considering the epistemological relationships between ILK and conservation or ecological science. A key issue is the relationship between ILK and science that sets the expectations for how they may form dialogues, collaborations, or co-production. After reviewing several perspectives on this relationship, and their limitations, we suggest that a focus on shared meanings within an 'ethic of equivocation' is a productive path forward. In an ethic of equivocation, neither ILK nor science validates the other, yet meaning can be created. We explain and develop the concepts of meanings and equivocation in the ILK-science context. We, thus, argue for a broad and rich understanding of the joint roles of ILK and science, which goes beyond treating ILK as a data source. We argue that diverse styles of reasoning exist in science, and scientists may already treat observations, models, and collaborations in the ways that we discuss, providing ready-made analogies for thinking about ILK. We also discuss how to avoid abuses of power while engaging with ILK to co-produce new knowledge.

Conservation projects in developing countries that depend on international donors or international capacity building partnerships often have to bridge a gap between donors’ or experts’ ideas of best practice and local ideas of best practice. We examine how this gap may be successfully bridged by examining the case of the Wangchuck Centennial National Park (WCNP) in Bhutan. This protected area was attracting considerable outside investment but presented an unusual situation in 2013: it was largely viewed positively by local communities living in the park, even though, five years after it was gazetted, it had no clear boundaries, and its management was identical to management outside the park. Why did the WCNP have this form, and why was it viewed favorably by local people? Our interviews and survey reveal that this may be due to practical and favourable integrated conservation and development projects implemented by the park management, more people-friendly rules adopted by the Bhutanese government, and a cultural ethos of sustainable development and environmentalist Buddhist sentiments. Applying the tacit working models of conservation framework, we argue that although the protected area as a form of conservation normally is designed to fit the ‘uniformity model’ of a bounded area with specific rules and management, the WCNP has been culturally re-designed to fit the more culturally suitable ‘normative model’ that is territorially extensive and values-based. We suggest that this adaptation of global conservation concepts to local cultural perspectives may be a factor in Bhutanese conservation success.

This research paper is an account and analysis of English media reporting on wildlife conservation and protected areas (PAs) in Maharashtra, India, between 1994 and 2015. It is based on 269 articles that first appeared in the media and were then edited for publication in the ‘Protected Area Update’. The analysis attempts to draw out significant themes that the media deems important in matters of wildlife conservation. Themes that emerge prominently are related to issues of land, displacement of people, development projects, and tourism. We also discovered that some PAs like the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve receive disproportionately large media space, while a third of the PAs were not reported on at all. This does not imply that these areas were not reported in the larger media that the newsletter draws upon, but points to the skewed coverage and (limited) importance these PAs get. We argue that media content analysis is a useful tool because the media is the first interface for the general public on issues of wildlife conservation and plays an important role in shaping public opinion. To our knowledge, this is the first such state-wide study of media reporting of wildlife conservation issues; it provides important insights into the wildlife conservation discourse in the country as well as the concerns, priorities, and challenges of the media.

Tool use has been reported in a wide range of vertebrates, but so far not in Suidae (the pigs). Suidae are widely considered to be “intelligent” and have many traits associated with tool use, so this is surprising. Here, we report the first structured observations of umprompted instrumental object manipulation in a pig, the Visayan warty pig Sus cebifrons , which we argue qualifies as tool use. Three individuals were observed using bark or sticks to dig with. Two individuals, adult females, used the sticks or bark, using a rowingmotion, during the final stage of nest building. The third individual, an adult male, attempted to use a stick to dig with. Stick and branch manipulation was observed in other contexts, but not for digging. Our observations suggest the hypothesis that the observed use of stick to dig with could have been socially learned through vertical transmission (mother-daughter) as well as horizontal transmission (female-male). When used by the females, it altered their digging affordance, and had a specific placement in the nest-building sequence. In addition to its context-specificity and its role in a functional sequence, the observed tool use is distinguished by an ambiguous function or effectiveness as a digging behaviour, and the participation of the male in a female action pattern. Observations of unprompted tool use represented for the first time in a phylogenetic family are rare. These open new possibilities for research on tool use and social learning in Suidae.