Current Societal Views about Sustainable Wildlife Management and Conservation: A Survey of College Students in China

Abstract

Wildlife conservation and management has become a very complex public policy issue in China as concerns over on animal welfare and empathy for animals have grown. Science-based conservation strategies that are oriented toward sustainable wildlife management (SWM) are under threat as these new attitudes and values emerge and take hold. This study accesses the attitudes of college students towards SWM and wildlife conservation, and investigates demographic characteristics influencing their attitudes in China, a country that is traditionally associated with consumptive use of wildlife and SWM, but where new ideas about wildlife conservation are emerging. From October 2018 to April 2019, nine universities (including “Double First-Class” universities, first-tier universities, second-tier universities), and four three-year colleges in China were selected as survey locations, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 1991 students. A total of 1977 questionnaires were recovered, of which 1739 were valid, with a completion rate of 88%. A Likert seven-point scale method was used to score students’ attitudes, and a classification and regression tree (CART) was used to analyze whether their attitudes were affected by their demographic characteristics. The results show that although students are broadly supportive of the theory of SWM, some are deeply antagonistic about on SWM on issues that arouse strong emotions such as “Animal Welfare and Rights” and “Trophy Hunting”. Demographic characteristics of students affect their degree of support for the SWM with support for SWM lower among vegetarians, freshmen, and students who have taken environmental protection electives. This research suggests that the theory of SWM requires to be refreshed and adapted to appeal to the younger generation of Chinese students, with SWM principles integrated into the environmental education programs of universities and three-year colleges. More attention should also be attached to media publicity by the government about wildlife conservation so as to enhance awareness of the need for SWM.

Compassionate Conservation and the Challenge of Sustainable Wildlife Management: A Survey of the Urban Public of China

“…Our survey demonstrates that overall support for SWM practices and principles across a range of seven distinctive wildlife management and conservation issues is positive among the general public in China. This result is broadly similar to an earlier investigation of attitudes among Chinese college students [ 3 ]. Support for SWM was markedly different across different issues, with most support for a scientific-led approach to species management, greater recognition of the impact on people, and the promotion of ecological integrity and the protection of species.…”

“…In the first part, we used seven questions to ascertain the demographic characteristics of the respondents, including gender, city of residence, age, education, monthly salary, and recorded whether the respondent was a vegetarian (vegetarianism mentioned in this study refers to refusal to eat one or more animal products), or had religious beliefs. In the second part, an attitudes scale regarding SWM, was introduced [ 3 ]. The questions were connected to various contemporary social issues related to the wildlife conservation and management in China today such as Release [ 21 ], Animal Welfare and Rights [ 22 ], Vegetarianism [ 23 ], and Trophy Hunting [ 24 ].…”

“…In recent years, with the continuous development of society, SWM is moderated and influenced by evolving economic and social trends and expectations. However, with the emergence of social media and the globalization of conservation management conflicts, conservation managers and domestic policy makers must respond more quickly to new challenges and conflicts that arise from the concerns of the global community [ 3 ].…”

“…In China, “Compassionate Conservation” has rapidly attracted support with the wide-spread promotion of various animal causes and extensive publicity about animal rights and cruelty [ 3 ]. For example, in March 2012, several airlines including China Southern Airlines, Air China, and China Eastern Airlines announced the suspension of transporting animals for experimental research, as the public began to overwhelmingly oppose the use of animals for experiments under the widespread publicity of PETA [ 9 ].…”

China’s Wildlife Management Policy Framework: Preferences, Coordination and Optimization

“…A review of existing wildlife-protection-related studies shows a large number of literature in this area, but the challenges related to wildlife management policies are still under investigated. The limited studies on China's wildlife management policies are mainly divided into three kinds: (1) normative studies of the challenges and measures of the Wildlife Protection Law of China and the recent wildlife consumption ban at a macro level [5,6,8,9], (2) empirical studies of the effects of specific wildlife management policies in China at the micro level [10][11][12], and (3) comparative studies of discussing wildlife management policies in China and other countries, as well as the political and institutional contexts that influence policymaking [13][14][15]. However, no scholars have studied the elements of a wildlife management policy framework in a certain country using quantitative methods, resulting in a vague understanding of the key elements of a wildlife management policy framework, such as policy tools, policy objectives, and policy subjects, and a lack of analysis of the relationship between these key policy elements.…”