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Colonial roots may explain why North and Latin America treat wildlife differently

Phys · · 833 words · By Colorado State University

The article discusses a study from Colorado State University published in Nature Sustainability regarding the historical and colonial roots of wildlife values in the Americas. It contrasts 'mutualism' in Latin America with 'domination' in North America, attributing these differences to the influence of colonizing nations and Indigenous populations.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-colonial-roots-north-latin-america.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

19 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 9
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help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified Verified 1
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“research led by Colorado State University found a distinct difference between Latin American views toward wildlife and those in the United States and Canada”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results for this claim are generic descriptions of Colorado, Canada, and the US, and do not mention any Colorado State University research regarding wildlife views.
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web search NEUTRAL — Colorado is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States.The difference between the highs of the days and the lows of the nights can be considerable as warmth dissipa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado
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web search NEUTRAL — Experience the untouched beauty of Canada's natural wonders. From rocky terrains to scenic lakes, explore the best Mother Nature has to offer.
https://canadiantrainvacations.vercel.app/blog/canada-top-na…
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web search NEUTRAL — Canada and United States are two of the largest countries in the world. They are friendly neighbor states and share a large border. The worlds largest waterfall, Niagara Falls, is also on the border o…
https://www.diffen.com/difference/Canada_vs_United_States
verified
“Latin America regards wildlife as part of the social community, deserving of rights like humans—a value the researchers call "mutualism"”
VERIFIED
Two separate PDF/academic search results explicitly define 'mutualism' in the context of wildlife as viewing animals as capable of relationships of trust and deserving of rights and caring.
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web search NEUTRAL — Mutualism is an anarchist school of thought and economic theory that advocates for workers' control of the means of production, a free market made up of individual artisans, sole proprietorships and w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutualism_(economic_theory)
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web search NEUTRAL — toward mutualism—characterized by a view in which wildlife is seen as capable of relaThe materialism orientation, viewing wildlife as object for human use, was revealed rarely. These results match wit…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249007663_The_Need_…
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web search NEUTRAL — A mutualism orientation toward wildlife views it as capable of relationships of trust with humans, as if part of an extended family, and as life forms deserving of rights and caring.
https://www.academia.edu/3071380/Understanding_the_cognitive…
info
“the United States and Canada largely view wildlife as a resource for use by humans—a value they label "domination."”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results discuss domestication and general animal tolerance but do not provide evidence of a specific study labeling US/Canada views as 'domination'.
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web search NEUTRAL — Quora is a place to gain and share knowledge. It's a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other…
https://www.quora.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — for human use. Domestic species are raised for food, work, clothing, medicine, and many other uses. Domesticated plants and animals must be raised and cared for by humans. Domesticated species are not…
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/domesticat…
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web search NEUTRAL — The new analysis showed that larger animals are more likely to be disturbed in more remote areas by people, but if the human–animal interactions are mostly benign, and if the animals can tolerate peop…
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/why-are-some-wild-animals…
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“Britain and northern Europe were more domination oriented than southern Europe, which favored mutualism.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provide general geographic and demographic info about Europe, but do not confirm the specific comparison between northern and southern European wildlife orientations.
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web search NEUTRAL — Southern Europe is a loosely defined region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Europe
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web search NEUTRAL — Regions Of Europe. Europe has a population for more than 747 million people. The United Nations Geoscheme divides Europe into 4 subregions: Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Northern Europe, and Souther…
https://www.worldatlas.com/geography/regions-of-europe-2025.…
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web search NEUTRAL — Men were generally more oriented towards domination and less towards mutualism than women, except in Serbia, where it was the other way around.Exploring the legal constraints on wildlife management wi…
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-022-02361-5
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“This research, published in Nature Sustainability, reinforces past studies showing that colonizing institutions can help explain current cultural differences between North and South America.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While Nature Sustainability is a real journal and the search results mention Manfredo's work on wildlife value orientations, the specific link between colonizing institutions and these differences is not explicitly confirmed in the provided snippets.
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web search NEUTRAL — The term of the Global South has many researched theories associated with it. Since many of the countries that are considered to be a part of the Global South were once colonized by Global North count…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_North_and_Global_South
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web search NEUTRAL — Nature Sustainability publishes significant original research from a broad range of natural, social and engineering fields coming together to shed light on t...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMN3JbTXFZE
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web search NEUTRAL — Relationships between demographics and wildlife value orientations were different across countries.Manfredo MJ, Teel TL, Henry KL (2009) Linking society and environment: A multilevel model of shifting…
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-022-02361-5
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“British institutions fostered the establishment of settlements, while Spanish and Portuguese institutions focused on the extraction of resources such as gold”
CORROBORATED
Wikipedia and other search results confirm the British presence in North America involved large numbers of settlers (settlement), while other sources discuss 'extractive institutions' in the context of colonial history.
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web search NEUTRAL — Military, economic and colonial tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily on its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire
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web search NEUTRAL — The British presence on the North American continent first began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia. Gradually over the years, large numbers of settlers from the British Isles made the long and dangerous …
https://www.worldatlas.com/history/former-british-colonies.h…
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web search NEUTRAL — “When settlement conditions were poor, extractive institutions were established, regardless of the identity of the colonizer,” explain Faría and his coauthors.
https://www.atlasnetwork.org/articles/effects-of-colonial-in…
info
“the religious orientation of the countries of northern Europe called for human domination, which was not the case in southern Europe.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results discuss the general distribution of religions in Europe but do not link these religions to a specific 'domination' vs 'mutualism' orientation toward nature.
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web search NEUTRAL — Southern Europe is a loosely defined region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Europe
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web search NEUTRAL — Quora is a place to gain and share knowledge. It's a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers. This empowers people to learn from each other…
https://www.quora.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Europe - Religions, Faiths, Beliefs: The majority of primary culture groups in Europe have a single dominant religion, although the English, German, Swiss, Hungarian, and Netherlandic groups are notew…
https://www.britannica.com/place/Europe/Religions
info
“Manfredo pointed to a religious and social shift in northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries that commanded Protestant followers to control their environment”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results confirm religious conflicts and the spread of Protestantism in northern Europe during the 16th/17th centuries, but they do not mention a command to 'control their environment'.
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web search NEUTRAL — The French Wars of Religion (French: Guerres de Religion en France) were a series of civil wars between French Catholics and Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion
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web search NEUTRAL — While Protestantism spread rapidly in parts of northern and central Europe, Catholicism remained dominant in the south and west. In Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Orthodox Christianity held firm even…
https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14972/map-of-the-dominant…
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web search NEUTRAL — The Thirty Years’ War was a 17th-century religious conflict fought primarily in central Europe.At least initially, Ferdinand II’s forces were successful, quelling the rebellion to the east and in nort…
https://www.history.com/articles/thirty-years-war
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“countries that were historically Catholic were more likely to hold mutualist views.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching.
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“Findings are based on a survey of nearly 18,500 people in 33 American and European countries.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching.
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“North America and northern European countries have high levels of mutualism but are more domination oriented than Latin America and the rest of Europe.”
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“Latin America has low levels of domination and very high levels of mutualism—higher even than the colonizing countries, Spain and Portugal.”
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“people with Indigenous ancestry across the Americas are strongly mutualistic”
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“At the time of European colonization, there were large cities and significant numbers of Indigenous people in Latin America—50 million people or more”
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“Lethal control is a common way of dealing with human-wildlife conflict in countries with higher levels of domination.”
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“Countries with higher levels of mutualism tend to support lethal control only in extreme situations of harm to humans.”
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“Lethal control is North America's fundamental way of dealing with human-wildlife conflict”
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“We see in the United States a shift away from domination toward more mutualist values due to modernization forces like increased income, education and urbanization”
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“Enduring cultural legacies affect Euro-American wildlife values, Nature Sustainability (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-026-01825-8”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.