Current Societal Views about Sustainable Wildlife Management and Conservation: A Survey of College Students in China
Abstract
:Simple Summary
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data Collection
2.2. Questionnaire Design
- (a)
- Release: Question 1 (Q1): people should be able to release wild animals at will; Question 13 (Q13): wildlife should be released by professional departments or organizations; Question 15 (Q15): buying wildlife from the market and releasing them is beneficial to conservation;
- (b)
- Animal Welfare and Rights: Question 2 (Q2): animals should have equal rights with humans; Question 10 (Q10): advocating animal rights is more important than utilization of wildlife by men; Question 16 (Q16): animal welfare should be improved in captive breeding of wildlife;
- (c)
- Utilization and Wildlife Conservation: Question 3 (Q3): as long as the use of wild animals and their products is prohibited, wild animals can be effectively conserved; Question 18 (Q18): all wild animals and their products, including captive breeding of wild animals and their products, should not be used.
- (d)
- Wildlife Management: Question 4 (Q4): if wild populations are not threatened, we can use wildlife and their products to improve people’s quality of life; Question 8 (Q8): the standard of living of residents around the wildlife distribution area should be considered in wildlife conservation; Question 20 (Q20): wildlife management should be based on science;
- (e)
- Vegetarianism and Wildlife Conservation: Question 5 (Q5): vegetarianism is not an effective way to conserve and manage wildlife; Question 11 (Q11): vegetarianism is closely related to wildlife conservation; Question 17 (Q17): wild animals can be effectively conserved if all the human beings are vegans;
- (f)
- Public and Wildlife Conservation: Question 6 (Q6): if all men have a positive attitude towards wildlife, wildlife can be effectively conserved; Question 14 (Q14): wildlife can be conserved as long as given care and love; Question 19 (Q19): no matter how enthusiastic we care about wildlife, we still need scientific methods for its conservation;
- (g)
- Trophy Hunting: Question 7 (Q7): trophy hunting is cruel and inhumane to animals; Question 9 (Q9): well-managed trophy hunting is one of the effective measures for wildlife conservation and management; Question 12 (Q12): well-managed hunting opportunities should be provided for those who want to hunt.
2.3. Statistical Analysis
2.4. Ethical Note
3. Results
3.1. Demographics
3.2. Attitude of Students toward SWM and Wildlife Conservation
3.3. Demographic Effects
4. Discussion
4.1. Influence of Demographic Factors
4.2. Attitudes towards Seven Categories of Issues
4.2.1. Animal Welfare and Rights
4.2.2. Trophy Hunting
4.3. Recommendations
4.3.1. Environmental Education in Universities and Three-Year Colleges
4.3.2. Popularization of the Theory of Sustainable Wildlife Management through Social Media
4.4. Limitations of the Study
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Survey Questionnaire of attitude toward sustainable wildlife management (SWM) and wildlife conservation in China
- (1)
- Please indicate your gender: □ Male □ Female
- (2)
- Please indicate your grade: □ freshman □ sophomore □ junior □ senior □ graduate student
- (3)
- Please indicate your major: □ agricultural □ science □ engineering □ literature □ law □ medicine □ economics □ management □ fine art
- (4)
- Whether vegetarian or not? □ Yes □ No
- (5)
- Have you paid attention to information related to wildlife conservation? □ Yes □ No
- (6)
- Have you taken environmental protection electives during your university? □ Yes □ No
- (7)
- Have you participated in activities related to wildlife? □ Yes □ No
- People should be able to release wild animals at will.
- 2
- Animals should have equal rights with humans.
- 3
- As long as the use of wildlife and their products is prohibited, wild animals can be effectively conserved.
- 4
- If wild populations are not threatened, we can use wildlife and their products to improve people’s quality of life.
- 5
- Vegetarianism is not an effective way to conserve and manage wildlife.
- 6
- If all men have a positive attitude towards wildlife, wildlife will be effectively conserved.
- 7
- Trophy hunting is cruel and inhumane to animals.
- 8
- The standard of living of residents around the wildlife distribution area should be considered in wildlife conservation.
- 9
- Well-managed Trophy hunting is one of the effective measures for wildlife conservation and management.
- 10
- Advocating animal rights is more important than utilization of wildlife by men.
- 11
- Vegetarianism is closely related to wildlife conservation.
- 12
- Well-managed hunting opportunities should be provided for those who want to hunt.
- 13
- Wildlife should be released by professional departments or organizations.
- 14
- Wildlife can be conserved as long as given care and love.
- 15
- Buying wildlife from the market and releasing them is beneficial to conservation.
- 16
- Animal welfare should be improved in captive breeding of wildlife.
- 17
- Wild animals can be effectively conserved if all the human beings are vegans.
- 18
- All wild animals and their products, including captive breeding of wild animals and their products, should not be used.
- 19
- No matter how enthusiastic we care about wildlife, we still need scientific methods for its conservation.
- 20
- Wildlife management should be based on science.
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Site | N | Class of University |
---|---|---|
East China Normal University | 102 | “Double First-Class” university |
Nanchang University | 99 | |
Northeast Forestry University | 145 | |
North China University of Science and Technology | 100 | First-tier university |
Hebei University of Science and Technology | 200 | |
Changchun University of Traditional Chinese Medicine | 100 | |
Lvliang University | 202 | Second-tier university |
Taiyuan Normal University | 199 | |
Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University | 150 | |
Shanxi Architectural College | 94 | Three-year college |
Jiaozuo University | 199 | |
Heze Vocational College | 201 | |
Tianjin Coastal Polytechnic | 200 |
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Miao, Z.; Wang, Q.; Chen, D.; Song, Z.; Zhang, W.; Zhou, X.; MacMillan, D.C. Current Societal Views about Sustainable Wildlife Management and Conservation: A Survey of College Students in China. Animals 2020, 10, 1821. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101821
Miao Z, Wang Q, Chen D, Song Z, Zhang W, Zhou X, MacMillan DC. Current Societal Views about Sustainable Wildlife Management and Conservation: A Survey of College Students in China. Animals. 2020; 10(10):1821. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101821
Chicago/Turabian StyleMiao, Zhen, Qiang Wang, Dongxiao Chen, Zhifan Song, Wei Zhang, Xuehong Zhou, and Douglas C. MacMillan. 2020. "Current Societal Views about Sustainable Wildlife Management and Conservation: A Survey of College Students in China" Animals 10, no. 10: 1821. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10101821