Public perceptions of deer management in Scotland

In Scotland, large deer populations are associated with negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts, such as damage to peatlands and forests, agricultural and commercial forestry losses, Lyme disease transmission, and road accidents. Increasing the annual deer cull might help address these negativ...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hare, D, Daniels, M, Blossey, B
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media 2021
_version_ 1826303251585171456
author Hare, D
Daniels, M
Blossey, B
author_facet Hare, D
Daniels, M
Blossey, B
author_sort Hare, D
collection OXFORD
description In Scotland, large deer populations are associated with negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts, such as damage to peatlands and forests, agricultural and commercial forestry losses, Lyme disease transmission, and road accidents. Increasing the annual deer cull might help address these negative impacts, but could be ethically controversial. A stratified sample of adults living in Scotland (n = 1002) responded to our online questionnaire measuring perceptions of deer management, including the acceptability of increasing the deer cull if doing so would help achieve a variety of ecological and social objectives. Overall, respondents indicated that it would be acceptable to increase the deer cull if doing so would serve public interests by reducing negative impacts of deer, with deer welfare and environmental conservation being the most relevant ethical considerations. Although rural and urban respondents reported significantly different experiences and perceptions of deer, their attitudes and policy preferences regarding deer management did not significantly differ. Understanding values of the general public, beyond vocal interest groups, can inform decisions on contentious wildlife management issues.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T05:59:49Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:ebc8364a-2b10-430d-a806-5d4fecda2369
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T05:59:49Z
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:ebc8364a-2b10-430d-a806-5d4fecda23692022-03-27T11:12:30ZPublic perceptions of deer management in ScotlandJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ebc8364a-2b10-430d-a806-5d4fecda2369EnglishSymplectic ElementsFrontiers Media2021Hare, DDaniels, MBlossey, BIn Scotland, large deer populations are associated with negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts, such as damage to peatlands and forests, agricultural and commercial forestry losses, Lyme disease transmission, and road accidents. Increasing the annual deer cull might help address these negative impacts, but could be ethically controversial. A stratified sample of adults living in Scotland (n = 1002) responded to our online questionnaire measuring perceptions of deer management, including the acceptability of increasing the deer cull if doing so would help achieve a variety of ecological and social objectives. Overall, respondents indicated that it would be acceptable to increase the deer cull if doing so would serve public interests by reducing negative impacts of deer, with deer welfare and environmental conservation being the most relevant ethical considerations. Although rural and urban respondents reported significantly different experiences and perceptions of deer, their attitudes and policy preferences regarding deer management did not significantly differ. Understanding values of the general public, beyond vocal interest groups, can inform decisions on contentious wildlife management issues.
spellingShingle Hare, D
Daniels, M
Blossey, B
Public perceptions of deer management in Scotland
title Public perceptions of deer management in Scotland
title_full Public perceptions of deer management in Scotland
title_fullStr Public perceptions of deer management in Scotland
title_full_unstemmed Public perceptions of deer management in Scotland
title_short Public perceptions of deer management in Scotland
title_sort public perceptions of deer management in scotland
work_keys_str_mv AT hared publicperceptionsofdeermanagementinscotland
AT danielsm publicperceptionsofdeermanagementinscotland
AT blosseyb publicperceptionsofdeermanagementinscotland