Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

Towards a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting

Duffy, Rosaleen, St. John, Freya A.V., Buscher, Bram, Brockington, Dan (2015) Towards a new understanding of the links between poverty and illegal wildlife hunting. Conservation Biology, 30 (1). pp. 14-22. ISSN 0888-8892. E-ISSN 1523-1739. (doi:10.1111/cobi.12622) (KAR id:52463)

Abstract

Conservation organizations have increasingly raised concerns about escalating rates of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife. Previous studies have concluded that people hunt illegally because they are financially poor or lack alternative livelihood strategies. However, there has been little attempt to develop a richer understanding of the motivations behind contemporary illegal wildlife hunting. As a first step, we reviewed the academic and policy literatures on poaching and illegal wildlife use and considered the meanings of poverty and the relative importance of structure and individual agency. We placed motivations for illegal wildlife hunting within the context of the complex history of how wildlife laws were initially designed and enforced to indicate how hunting practices by specific communities were criminalized. We also considered the nature of poverty and the reasons for economic deprivation in particular communities to indicate how particular understandings of poverty as material deprivation ultimately shape approaches to illegal wildlife hunting. We found there is a need for a much better understanding of what poverty is and what motivates people to hunt illegally.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/cobi.12622
Uncontrolled keywords: ivory;poaching;rhino horn;rural development;wildlife trade;caza furtiva;cuerno de rinoceronte;desarrollo rural;marfil;mercado de fauna
Subjects: Q Science > QH Natural history > QH75 Conservation (Biology)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: F.A.V. St-John
Date Deposited: 26 Nov 2015 16:18 UTC
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2022 23:38 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/52463 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

St. John, Freya A.V..

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.