Provoked poachers?: applying a situational precipitator framework to examine the nexus between human-wildlife conflict, retaliatory killings, and poaching

The poaching of wildlife has received substantial interest from criminologists in recent years. In particular, prior research has attempted to better understand the factors that drive individuals to engage in such behavior. One driver that has been acknowledged is human-wildlife conflict. To date, h...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Moreto, William D. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
In: Criminal justice studies
Year: 2019, Volume: 32, Issue: 2, Pages: 63-80
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Human-wildlife conflict
Poaching
qualitative methods
Situational precipitators
Wildlife Crime
Uganda
Description
Summary:The poaching of wildlife has received substantial interest from criminologists in recent years. In particular, prior research has attempted to better understand the factors that drive individuals to engage in such behavior. One driver that has been acknowledged is human-wildlife conflict. To date, however, there has been little research examining the situational factors that link human-wildlife conflict, retaliatory killings, and poaching. Moreover, there are few studies that have attempted to theoretically explain such convergence. Based on fieldwork in Uganda, and drawn from data collected from formal interviews, participant observation, and informal conversations with rangers, the present study demonstrates the utility of viewing the intersection between human-wildlife conflict, retaliatory killings, and poaching from a situational precipitator framework. Findings suggest that human-wildlife conflict can prompt, pressure, permit, and provoke individuals to engage in both retaliatory killings and poaching. Additionally, it was found that human-wildlife conflict directly influences community-ranger relations in Uganda.Implications for theory, practice, and prevention are discussed.
ISSN:1478-6028
DOI:10.1080/1478601X.2019.1600816