Estimating hunting prevalence and wild meat reliance in Cambodia’s Eastern Plains

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Electronic versions

Documents

DOI

  • Harriet Ibbett
    University of Oxford
  • EJ Milner-Gulland
    University of Oxford
  • Andrew D.M. Dobson
    University of Edinburgh
  • Olly Griffin
    Wildlife Conservation Society - Cambodia Programme
  • Henry Travers
    University of Oxford
  • Aidan Keane
    University of Edinburgh
Hunting is a primary driver of biodiversity loss across South-east Asia. Within Cambodia, the use of wire snares to capture wildlife is a severe threat in protected areas but there have been few studies of the behaviour of hunters from local communities. Here, we combine the unmatched count technique with direct questioning to estimate the prevalence of hunting behaviours and wildlife consumption amongst 705 households living within Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Cambodia. We assessed respondents’ knowledge of rules, and their perceptions of patrols responsible for enforcing rules. Estimates of hunting behaviour were variable: results from the unmatched count technique were inconclusive, and direct questioning revealed 9% of households hunted, and 20% set snares around farms to prevent wildlife eating crops. Hunting with domestic dogs was the method most commonly used to catch wildlife (87% of households owned dogs). Wild meat was consumed by 84% of households, and was most frequently bought or caught, but also gifted. We detected a high awareness of conservation rules, but low awareness of punishments and penalties, with wildlife depletion, rather than the risk of being caught by patrols, causing the greatest reduction in hunting. Our findings demonstrate the challenges associated with reliably estimating rule-breaking behaviour and highlight the need to incorporate careful triangulation into study design.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)878-888
JournalOryx
Volume55
Issue number6
Early online date23 Oct 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021
Externally publishedYes

Total downloads

No data available
View graph of relations