Work

Context matters: German public perceptions of trophy hunting in sub-Saharan Africa

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Proposed bans on the import of hunting trophies from African countries to Europe continue to spark international political tensions and a fierce public debate on social and print media. As Europe’s largest and the world’s second-largest importer of hunting trophies, Germany plays a central role in this issue. While interest groups with strong supporting and opposing opinions engage in heated debates, empirical data on German public perception remains sparse and inconsistent. Using an experimental vignette approach, we administered an online questionnaire to 882 participants living in rural and urban areas of Germany. Our objective was to assess public perceptions of the acceptability of trophy hunting of African elephants and zebras. Overall, acceptability of trophy hunting among participants was low, but it depended on the animal that would be hunted (elephant or zebra), how the meat from the hunt would be utilised (left for wildlife or provided to local communities), as well as how the revenue from the hunt would be allocated (conservation, local development, or hunting enterprises). Moreover, sociodemographic factors such as whether a participant lives in an urban or rural area, their gender, identity as a hunter or animal protectionist, and whether they would prioritise the interests of people or those of wild animals helped explain the acceptability of trophy hunting. These findings challenge general assumptions of a unified Global North perspective and emphasise the need for nuanced, context-specific and justice-oriented, conservation policies, especially in a telecoupled world where ecological and social systems are globally interconnected.

Source: Biological Conservation

DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111681

Authors: Emu-Felicitas Ostermann-Miyashita, Sophia Hibler, Lovemore Sibanda, Darragh Hare

Institutions: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Oxford, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology, Cornell University

Language: English

Topic: Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Subfield: Ecology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,830