Koichi, Kana, Cottrell, Alison, K. Sangha, Kamalijit, and Gordon, Iain J. (2013) What determines the acceptability of wildlife control methods? A case study of feral pig management in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, Australia. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 18 (2). pp. 97-108.

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Abstract

Understanding public acceptability of wildlife control methods is key to successful wildlife management. The existing literature, however, pays little attention to alien invasive species. We evaluated the acceptability of methods used to control feral pigs (Sus scrofa; trapping, hunting, fencing, and poison baiting) in Australia's Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) across local residents of and tourists to the area, using household surveys and tourist surveys. We predicted that the level of acceptability of a control method would differ across stakeholder groups (i.e., resident, tourist) and methods considered inhumane and/or unsafe would be less supported. Local residents expressed more support for feral pig control than tourists. Both groups identified similar factors, such as humaneness, as being important, but local residents also considered effectiveness and direct social and/or economic benefits from control. We conclude that the types of stakeholder groups determine the acceptability of the methods, but factors considered important in supporting methods can be case-specific.

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