Attitudes towards wild animal conservation: a comparative study of the Yi and Mosuo in China

Abstract

Global wild animal resources are declining due to various pressures, which will greatly affect local biodiversity and ecosystem services. Understanding local people's attitudes towards wild animal conservation in high biodiversity areas is of major importance for conservation efforts. Sampling and questionnaire survey methods were employed to examine people's attitudes toward wild animal conservation in a comparative case study of two minority ethnic groups, the Mosuo (n = 91) and Yi (n = 169) in Ninglang, China. Attributes influencing people's attitudes (p < 0.05) include ethnicity, awareness, culture, level of education, religious beliefs and gender. The Mosuo are more positive towards wild animal conservation than the Yi. Women are more positive than men in both ethnic groups. Yi males and Mosuo females are more active in educating children. People with a higher level of education and a religion show more support for wild animal conservation in both ethnic groups. The results suggest that encouraging and reinforcing traditional culture and informal restrictions, strengthening understanding and recognising gender differences in wild animal conservation practices should be used to improve biodiversity conservation in Ninglang. Furthermore, the implications of enhancing local enforcement on the supervision of tourism and compensation schemes for human-wildlife conflicts are also discussed.