TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceived entertainment and recreational value motivate illegal hunting in Southwest China
AU - Chang, Charlotte H.
AU - Williams, Sophie J.
AU - Zhang, Mingxia
AU - Levin, Simon Asher
AU - Wilcove, David S.
AU - Quan, Rui Chang
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Rongzhi Li, Yuejiao Li, and Xiaomin (Chloe) Zhu for critical assistance in the field. We are indebted to the many villagers and village committees in Xishuangbanna who welcomed us in the course of this research project. The manuscript benefited tremendously from discussions with Margaret Frye, Stephen Pacala, Andy Dobson, Ximin Wang, Michele Barnes, and Guangyu Liu. C. Chang was supported by a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. We acknowledge our funding sources: the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS 135 program, no. 2017 XTBG-F03), the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DEB-1501552), Princeton University Center for Health and Wellbeing, the Explorers Club, the Burnand-Partridge Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Women Scientists in Conservation Biology Research Award (0106.15.048577), and the High Meadows Foundation. The authors thank Maarten J.L.F. Cruyff, Yang-Yang Zhou, Nikhil Deshmukh, Fangyuan Hua, Zuzana Burivalova, Aidan Keane, Janice Lee, Umesh Srinivasan, Tien-Ming Lee, Leah Reisman, and Jacob Socolar for their valuable input in survey design and analysis.
Funding Information:
We thank Rongzhi Li, Yuejiao Li, and Xiaomin (Chloe) Zhu for critical assistance in the field. We are indebted to the many villagers and village committees in Xishuangbanna who welcomed us in the course of this research project. The manuscript benefited tremendously from discussions with Margaret Frye, Stephen Pacala, Andy Dobson, Ximin Wang, Michele Barnes, and Guangyu Liu. C. Chang was supported by a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. We acknowledge our funding sources: the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS 135 program, no. 2017 XTBG-F03 ), the NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant ( DEB-1501552 ), Princeton University Center for Health and Wellbeing, the Explorers Club , the Burnand- Partridge Foundation , National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Women Scientists in Conservation Biology Research Award ( 0106.15.048577 ), and the High Meadows Foundation . The authors thank Maarten J.L.F. Cruyff, Yang-Yang Zhou, Nikhil Deshmukh, Fangyuan Hua, Zuzana Burivalova, Aidan Keane, Janice Lee, Umesh Srinivasan, Tien-Ming Lee, Leah Reisman, and Jacob Socolar for their valuable input in survey design and analysis.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/6
Y1 - 2019/6
N2 - Globally, the overexploitation of wildlife presents one of the greatest challenges for biodiversity conservation and sustainable rural livelihoods. Research on the human dimensions of hunting is critical for identifying potential levers for behavioral change interventions. This is especially true in China where hunting threatens to extirpate avian species such as the green peafowl (Pavo muticus) and great hornbill (Buceros bicornis). Nevertheless, regulations restricting gun ownership and hunting have made interviews on this topic highly sensitive. Direct questions about conservation non-compliance are often affected by response bias such as refusals to answer or self-protective denials. We used the randomized response technique (RRT) to estimate the prevalence and drivers of illegal hunting targeting four focal bird taxa (barbets, bulbuls, partridges, and pheasants). Furthermore, we used statistical models that have recently been introduced to the conservation science literature to perform multivariate analyses for RRT data. We measured economic, demographic, and attitudinal covariates that could be associated with hunting. We found high awareness of laws banning hunting in Southwest China, but we also observed that 29.2% of the adult male population may have hunted birds in the past year. Contrary to previous findings highlighting subsistence and finance as major factors driving hunting, the most important predictors of hunting activity in this landscape were related to attitudes regarding the enjoyment of hunting. Extra-economic motivations, such as the entertainment value of hunting, may be underappreciated drivers of hunting behavior. Behavioral change interventions such as pride campaigns may be a promising approach to regulate bird hunting in Xishuangbanna in collaboration with local communities.
AB - Globally, the overexploitation of wildlife presents one of the greatest challenges for biodiversity conservation and sustainable rural livelihoods. Research on the human dimensions of hunting is critical for identifying potential levers for behavioral change interventions. This is especially true in China where hunting threatens to extirpate avian species such as the green peafowl (Pavo muticus) and great hornbill (Buceros bicornis). Nevertheless, regulations restricting gun ownership and hunting have made interviews on this topic highly sensitive. Direct questions about conservation non-compliance are often affected by response bias such as refusals to answer or self-protective denials. We used the randomized response technique (RRT) to estimate the prevalence and drivers of illegal hunting targeting four focal bird taxa (barbets, bulbuls, partridges, and pheasants). Furthermore, we used statistical models that have recently been introduced to the conservation science literature to perform multivariate analyses for RRT data. We measured economic, demographic, and attitudinal covariates that could be associated with hunting. We found high awareness of laws banning hunting in Southwest China, but we also observed that 29.2% of the adult male population may have hunted birds in the past year. Contrary to previous findings highlighting subsistence and finance as major factors driving hunting, the most important predictors of hunting activity in this landscape were related to attitudes regarding the enjoyment of hunting. Extra-economic motivations, such as the entertainment value of hunting, may be underappreciated drivers of hunting behavior. Behavioral change interventions such as pride campaigns may be a promising approach to regulate bird hunting in Xishuangbanna in collaboration with local communities.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2019.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2019.03.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063252434
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 234
SP - 100
EP - 106
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
ER -