Assessing anthropogenic effects on biological diversity, identifying drivers of human behavior, and motivating behavioral change are at the core of effective conservation. Yet knowledge of people's ...behaviors is often limited because the true extent of natural resource exploitation is difficult to ascertain, particularly if it is illegal. To obtain estimates of rule‐breaking behavior, a technique has been developed with which to ask sensitive questions. We used this technique, unmatched‐count technique (UCT), to provide estimates of bushmeat poaching, to determine motivation and seasonal and spatial distribution of poaching, and to characterize poaching households in the Serengeti. We also assessed the potential for survey biases on the basis of respondent perceptions of understanding, anonymity, and discomfort. Eighteen percent of households admitted to being involved in hunting. Illegal bushmeat hunting was more likely in households with seasonal or full‐time employment, lower household size, and longer household residence in the village. The majority of respondents found the UCT questions easy to understand and were comfortable answering them. Our results suggest poaching remains widespread in the Serengeti and current alternative sources of income may not be sufficiently attractive to compete with the opportunities provided by hunting. We demonstrate that the UCT is well suited to investigating noncompliance in conservation because it reduces evasive responses, resulting in more accurate estimates, and is technically simple to apply. We suggest that the UCT could be more widely used, with the trade‐off being the increased complexity of data analyses and requirement for large sample sizes. Una Aproximación Novedosa para Evaluar la Prevalencia y Factores de la Cacería Ilegal en el Serengueti
Bushmeat hunting is perceived as a serious threat to the conservation status of many species in Africa. We use a novel livelihood choice experiment method to investigate the role of illegal hunting ...within livelihood strategies in the western Serengeti, and to identify potential trade‐offs between illegal hunting and other income sources. We find that increasing access to microcredit, higher wages, increases in number of cows, weeks hunting and increased access to market all contribute to well‐being. We are able to quantify the trade‐offs between weeks spent illegal hunting and increases in cattle, wage income, access to markets, and access to microcredit. However, important differences emerge in response to these variables between different wealth groups which shape how we should design conservation and development interventions.
Bushmeat hunting, i.e., the hunting of wildlife for consumption, is a widespread and well-researched phenomenon. Here, we add to the literature on the factors that explain household engagement in ...hunting by asking how situational factors (such as distance from potential hunting grounds) and household-related variables both at the individual and at the social level (such as perceptions of law enforcement, relative wealth and ethnic background) are related to hunting activities.
However, bushmeat hunting is inherently challenging to investigate as it is usually illegal. In this study, conducted in western Serengeti, Tanzania (n=196 households in 12 villages), we used a variable that can be (and sometimes indeed is) incorporated in dietary recall surveys. This variable elicited the provenance of the bushmeat consumed, thereby avoiding direct statements about hunting activities. Counts of bushmeat sourced from household members were interpreted as a proxy for household engagement in hunting.
In a binomial generalised linear model, perceived own relative wealth, perceived effectiveness of law enforcement, distance from the nearest protected area and ethnicity all significantly explained variation in counts of home-sourced bushmeat over 10 months. Our approach is useful for investigating changes in perceptions of household wealth and law enforcement and their effects on hunting over time, and could contribute substantially to a better understanding of the dynamics of hunting in response to conservation and development interventions.
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