Hunters' territorialism in wildlife management

Hunters are known to be “territolialists” by the nature of their activities. Although not directly required by law, it is almost compulsory for Japanese hunters to join the local hunters' associations in the community... [ view full abstract ]

Hunters are known to be “territolialists” by the nature of their activities. Although not directly required by law, it is almost compulsory for Japanese hunters to join the local hunters' associations in the community where he/ she lives. The local hunting groups regard hunting grounds in their community as their territories. On the other hand, local governments rely on local hunters to take responsibility in wildlife management, especially in wildlife damage control.
We have conducted a questionnaire survey towards over 22 thousand hunters in eastern Japan to survey on hunters’ consciousness, behavior, environment, etc. By 7-point Likert hunters who “mostly use the same hunting grounds” scored 5.68, “try not to intrude someone else’s territory” sored 4.96 (n=12.453). For hunting motivations, we found that willingness to contribute the community by damage control and the joy for sport overcomes the negative factors—cost concern, fear to radioactive pollution by Fukushima.
By relaying on local hunters, rather than professional rangers, wildlife management can be achieved without a big budget. Also the community feels connected and willingness to support wildlife management activity may rise. Thus, Japanese model may be used as role in Africa and Asia by utilizing hunters from the local community to efficiently pursue wildlife management. It is also beneficial in facilitating the local tradition and culture.
However, hunters in Japan are aging and declining in numbers. In 2014, the Japanese Parliament revised the wildlife law to facilitate hunters for wildlife control to become businesses and encourage participation of scientific experts. Scientific and professional input is beneficial; however, by cutting the connection between wildlife controllers (hunters) and the community, we anticipate confusions to follow.
One potential trouble is conflict with landowners. Traditionally, question of hunting and trespass has been vague in Japan; local hunters are generally free to hunt in theicommunity. However, when outside “professionals” and businesses allowed access to hunt in the community, landowners may start raising questions. As countries in Asia and Africa are now rapidly introducing the modern land tenure system, experience in Japan may be a good resource to know what to expect in the near future.