Wildlife Management in Japan

Abstract

Japan is known for having high biodiversity, with more than 90,000 confirmed animal species, and is listed as one of the 34 “biodiversity hotspots” of the world. From the end of the 1800s to the 1970s, wildlife management focused primarily on “conservation,” owing to the fact that most of the major wildlife species were overhunted during that period in Japan. However, thanks to wildlife conservation laws and efforts, species such as wild boar and deer have increased their populations rapidly and have expanded their ranges broadly. Research regarding wildlife management traditionally has been considered as a field of natural science in Japan. Social studies regarding wildlife management conducted in Japan have three primary features: (1) most of these social studies have been conducted because of increasing damage caused by wildlife, (2) a number of these studies have not necessarily followed or utilized findings from human dimensions studies in other parts of the world, and (3) and most of the studies have been published only in Japanese, which has made it nearly impossible for others outside of Japan to understand the social aspects of any studies regarding wildlife management in this country.