Wildlife value orientations and their relationships with mid-size predator management

Abstract

ABSTRACTWildlife managers can use wildlife value orientations (WVOs) to help predict public acceptance of management actions. However, WVOs may only be effective if they have high predictive value and research on small and non-charismatic wildlife has indicated this is not universally true. In this paper, we report the findings of a survey (n= 376) that evaluated the predictive value of WVOs (domination and mutualism) for six mid-size predator species across three conflict scenarios (no conflict, property damage, threats to humans/pets) and four management actions (do nothing, trap and relocate, citizen lethal trap/hunt, lethal removal by control experts). WVOs explained the most variance for lethal management actions (citizens hunt/trap 22–40%; experts lethally remove 14–31%), and least for trapping and relocating (<1–10%). Species was related to the predictive power of WVOs, as the most variation was explained for coyotes, and least for otters. Findings demonstrate that WVOs provide valuable insights for management decision-making.