Article
Public Attitudes toward Wildlife Damage Management and Policy
Wildlife Society Bulletin
(1999)
Abstract
Wildlife damage managers consider various factors when selecting an appropriate course of action to handle problem wildlife. One of those factors is how the public views both the damage and the government's role in managing that damage. We conducted a mail survey of randomly selected American households to assess general attitudes toward wildlife and specific concerns about wildlife damage management. Respondents strongly supported the federal government's role in ensuring public safety, engaging in public education, and continuing research of non-lethal control methods. Less support existed for lethal control of predators and crop depredators, whereas financial compensation for losses from wildlife activities was generally opposed. Lethal methods of control were generally considered to be inhumane and non-lethal methods humane. When asked to rank importance of factors to be considered when selecting management methods, human safety ranked highest, followed by animal suffering, effectiveness, environmental impacts, severity of problem, and ability to target the specific problem animal.Â
Disciplines
Publication Date
1999
DOI
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3784098
Citation Information
Mark W. Brunson. "Public Attitudes toward Wildlife Damage Management and Policy" Wildlife Society Bulletin Vol. 27 Iss. 3 (1999) p. 746 - 758 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mark_brunson/248/