Odd one out? Public attitudes towards recreational hunting

Frank Jensen

University of Copenhagen

Ph. D. Frank Søndergaard Jensen (FSJ) is Professor with special responsibilities within Outdoor Recreation at the Dept. of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen, where he is head of the research group on Nature, Green Spaces and Outdoor Recreation (http://ign.ku.dk/english/research/landscape-architecture-planning/nature-green-spaces-and-outdoor-recreation/). FSJ’s research has focused on monitoring the use of nature areas for recreation and assessment of the general population’s preferences for different environments for recreational purposes. This experience has e.g. been utilised as expert member of Danish government commissions on access legislation and development of the first Danish national outdoor recreation policy. International research has been conducted in e.g. a number of Scandinavian and EU-funded projects, primarily focusing on outdoor recreation and forestry. Lately, research interest also includes values, attitudes and behaviour in relation to wildlife management and the impact of recreational activities on the GDP. For more information please see: http://ign.ku.dk/english/employees/landscape-architecture-planning/?pure=en/persons/269934

Christian Gamborg

University of Copenhagen

Christian Gamborg, Ph.D. Associate Professor in Natural Resource Ethics, Dept. Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen. The main part of his research relates to ethical aspects in relation to the human use of the natural environment. He has been part of governmental agency advisory groups on wild boar and wolf management in relation to social and ethical aspects. Besides scientific communication on these issues, he has recently (2016) co-authored a book: ”Hunting: Nature, Humans, Animals and Killing” (in Danish), trying to understand hunting in a contemporary, urbanized society from different value perspectives.

Abstract

What is the attitude of the general public towards hunting in Denmark – a highly urbanized European country? As a recreational activity – with a (growing) participation rate of 4% – hunting stands apart from other forms of outdoor recreation like bird-watching in that it involves the pursuit and killing of wild animals. Today, it is in a tight spot. It has been criticized from animal ethics points of view, but it has also been commended as an activity which allows us to take responsibility for procuring our own food.

The paper reports a national survey of the general public using an Internet-based questionnaire sent to a representative sample of the adult Danish public in 2012 (n=1001). Attitudes towards recreational hunting were examined in relation to gender, age, education, income and residence, association with hunters, hunting conditions, and wildlife value orientations. 43% of the general public had a positive attitude, 31% were indifferent, and 26% had a negative attitude to recreational hunting. Older respondents and rural residents had more positive attitudes towards hunting than younger and urban residents. Some of the conditions under which hunting occurs affected attitudes negatively, especially the hunting of farm-reared and released game birds, hunting organized as a group hunt, and single day leases of hunting grounds. On the contrary, hunting taking place on own land affected hunting positively. As hypothesized, respondents with a “mutualist” wildlife value orientation had the most negative attitude towards hunting (39%), “distanced” respondents were the most indifferent (44%), and “utilitarians” were the most positive (61%).

Assessing levels of public support for recreational hunting is important if we are to gauge whether hunting as a recreational and socio-cultural activity can be sustained in a highly urbanized country – with a probability of an increase in the number of citizens expressing a “mutualist” or “distant” wildlife value orientation. Finally, a rethink of hunting as part of the leisure industry should be considered, because the least positive attitudes were found in relation to the commercial aspect of hunting and this could result in tighter regulation with further effects on management practices.

Authors

Frank Jensen (University of Copenhagen)
Christian Gamborg (University of Copenhagen)

Topic Areas

Topics: Wildlife, Tourism, and Recreation , Topics: Hunting and Fishing , Topics: Cognitive Research (Values, Attitudes, Behaviors)

Session

T-2A » Wildlife Value Orientations (10:00 - Tuesday, 19th September, Assembly Hall A)

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