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Corruption is one of the main facilitators of increased wildlife crime in South Africa. It is important to look at the current legislative framework to determine how wildlife crime can be combated effectively. This paper aims to provide an analysis of the process of wildlife crime, focusing on wildlife poaching and trafficking role players and critically analyses the legislation in place to combat the phenomenon.

A critical analysis of existing literature such as case law, legislation, peer-reviewed publications and electronic articles was used to identify the legislation and processes for the prevention of wildlife crime in South Africa. Common denominators were identified in these sources to provide a baseline for examining wildlife crime.

Wildlife criminals rely extensively on corruption during all facets of their trafficking schemes. The use of traditional environmental laws is not effective in dismantling wildlife trafficking networks, as prosecuting those in the upper echelons is often challenging. The extensive reliance on corruption during all facets of wildlife trafficking provides an opportunity for law enforcement to use such corruption crimes as predicate offences in racketeering prosecutions, thus ensuring kingpins find it more difficult to escape prosecution, owing to their involvement in criminal enterprises that sustain themselves through patterns of racketeering.

This paper contributes knowledge to narrow the research gap with regard to wildlife criminals and how they function. It also addresses possibilities to improve prosecution and disrupt wildlife trafficking networks.

This study aims to investigate the satisfaction of farmers with the compensation policy for wildlife-caused damages and its influencing factors, analyze the current situation of satisfaction with the compensation policy among farmers, identify factors significantly affecting satisfaction, and explore ways to optimize the compensation policy and improve the satisfaction of farmers based on the effects of various influencing factors.

The Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, China, is selected as the research area for the study. Through field interviews, 370 valid questionnaires were collected to obtain relevant data on farmers' satisfaction with the compensation policy for wildlife-caused damages. The Oprobit model is utilized to explore the factors influencing farmer satisfaction and to analyze their underlying reasons.

The study reveals that farmers in the communities surrounding the Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve generally experience low satisfaction with the compensation policy, particularly concerning satisfaction with compensation amounts, which tends to be dissatisfied on average. Satisfaction with the compensation policy is significantly influenced by individual characteristics and household labor structure, while the degree of human-wildlife conflict, wildlife conservation attitudes and household income structure have insignificant impact. Among individual characteristics, gender, education level, health status, and ethnicity are highly significant. In household labor structure, the number of agricultural laborers, non-agricultural laborers, and household agricultural labor time are highly significant.

Building on the overall satisfaction of farmers with the compensation policy, this study further decomposes policy satisfaction into satisfaction with compensation amounts, coverage, and procedures. It provides more targeted recommendations for enhancing satisfaction with the compensation policy, which can help effectively mitigate human-wildlife conflicts and achieve harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

Human presence tends to decrease biodiversity and often results in the local extinction or even global extinction of megafauna. The focus here is on how humans have affected wolf populations in what are now known as the contiguous 48 United States. While the arrival of indigenous peoples to the region produced the extinction of some species and a reduction in wolf populations, the cultural values and economic system, i.e., capitalism, utilized by the European invaders led to anthropogenic decimation of wildlife species on an unprecedented scale and the near local extinction of wolves. Although capitalism almost led to the local extinction of wolves in the contiguous 48 US states, it also produced an educated, affluent urban class concerned with protecting endangered species. Unlike farmers and ranchers, this urbanized class does not view wildlife as a potential economic threat. The vast majority of contemporary Americans, i.e., 96%, do not engage in sport hunting, so most do not view apex predators as unwanted competitors for game species. Moreover, many individuals who belong to the urban affluent class, even those who do not engage in wildlife viewing or other forms of outdoor recreation, value biodiversity. Since the late twentieth century, this has resulted in the preservation of existing wolf populations and reintroducing wolves to some of their historical ranges. These trends are likely to continue in the coming decades. However, capitalism should not be viewed as a system that initially decimated wolf populations and eventually created an economic class that saved them. It is argued that, due to its growth imperative, if left unchecked, capitalism will ultimately destroy wolves and many other species that have been granted temporary reprieves from extinction.

Learning about wildlife is an important part of childhood education, but it is yet to be capitalised upon in the context of educational tourism. This chapter considers the different types of wildlife tourism that are available to children, how wildlife tourism experiences might have educational value and what the benefits of this niche tourism type might be. By providing insight into the educational elements of wildlife tourism, this chapter provokes analytical thinking about how this can be implemented and managed in a sustainable and responsible manner.

State agencies responsible for wildlife management and habitat preservation have historically relied on revenues generated from traditional sources, such as hunting and fishing licenses (consumptive users). This conventional funding model tends to overlook the shift in demographics and preferences toward non-consumptive activities like wildlife watching and nature tourism, as well as the indirect benefits from such activities. To address this disproportionate representation, innovative funding mechanisms are being explored throughout the Rocky Mountain West to provide avenues for inclusive conservation funding that incorporates non-consumptive users, such as recreational fees, conservation-oriented merchandizing, and co-branding partnerships with small businesses. Inspired by this methodology, initiatives like the University of Wyoming’s, “WYldlife for Tomorrow” (WFT) have been developed as an innovative approach that fosters collaboration between state agencies, businesses, educational institutions, and local communities for the purpose of creating sustainable funding streams for wildlife and habitat conservation. By responding to the evolving trends in hunting and fishing interests, this collaborative effort holds the potential to establish a sustainable model for wildlife management programs.

Managing the inevitable conflicts that occur as humans and wildlife increasingly cross paths is a pressing concern for conservation in the Anthropocene. The focus of this chapter is on a high-profile case of wildlife persecution in rural Australia, which saw a farmhand successfully prosecuted for deliberately poisoning 420 wedge-tailed eagles he believed to be a threat to the newborn lambs on the property where he worked. The chapter illustrates how this crime emerged at the intersection of three trajectories: the legacy of environmental change and colonial oppression in Australia; the sustained resistance to rural exclusion exhibited by some species of Australia native wildlife as they have adapted their livelihoods to the altered agricultural landscapes; and conservation doctrine that seeks to reverse the historical treatment of Australian wildlife by issuing it blanket protection from human interference. The complexities and interdependencies that have been created as wildlife have forged a future in rural space cannot be easily unravelled. The chapter argues that, alongside protection, more active forms of reconciliation between the trajectories of Australian agriculture and the trajectories of rural wildlife are required. It is only through experimenting with ways that pastoralists and wildlife might resolve disputes fairly and openly that more inclusive rural places become possible.

This chapter evaluates the impacts of and response measures to COVID-19 pandemic on the practice of tourism in the wildlife conservancy model in Kenya thus proposing response interventions to possible tourism crises in the future.

The study uses the qualitative exploratory experience design and collects data from purposely selected conservancies' leaders and other documented materials from two main wildlife conservancies association in Kenya.

The chapter presents findings on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on wildlife conservancy-based tourism, how conservancies responded to the pandemic and conservancy leadership perspectives on how to model future tourism and related activities in the conservancies based on the lessons they have learnt from the COVID-19 experience.

With the wildlife conservancy-based tourism model in Kenya being a relatively new phenomenon, the study provides important lessons for comparison with other such initiatives in other places in the event of tourism crises in the future.

This chapter argues that better preparedness to crises and uncertainties by various tourism types and models can help mitigate against adverse effects of similar uncertainties in the future. Consequently, the findings offer a glimpse of proposals and solutions to the wildlife conservancy-based tourism models that continue to be established in Kenya and in the region.

Purpose – The purpose is to explore public participation as a means to overcome jurisdictional barriers in governance of trans-boundary wildlife management issues.

Methodology/approach – We present one model, defining six philosophical approaches to public participation, then examine relationships between these approaches and traits of stakeholder communities, revealing three distinct governance paradigms: top–down governance, public input, and public engagement. These paradigms illustrate that the different approaches represent fundamentally different types of participation, not simply varying amounts of participation. Using case studies from the United States, we demonstrate how some state, federal, and local government institutions have successfully applied public input and public engagement models of governance to suburban white-tailed deer management. While both models can be used effectively, certain approaches may be preferable to others depending on specific management context, public participation goals, and target publics.

Findings – Public input approaches appear better suited to addressing complex problems and communities of interest, while public engagement approaches may better resolve wicked problems that affect communities of place. Future research is needed to clarify the relationship between success of governance paradigms and contextual considerations.

Originality/value of chapter – The chapter goes beyond many existing approaches to public participation and governance and presents interesting findings related to exurbanized and protected areas in the USA.

The aim of this article is to explore wildlife value orientation (WVO) beliefs of community members involved in the Miso Walai Homestay program in Lower Kinabatangan, Sabah.

The researcher utilized the qualitative method of thematic analysis and the sampling technique of purposive/judgemental method which reached saturation point at 16 respondents, who were all local community employees of the Miso Walai Homestay program. A total of 13 semi‐structured questions were posed to all interviewees in their native Bahasa Melayu language or English.

Interviewees expressed preference for viewing wild species not in enclosed structures but in their natural habitat. This was also the view of tourists in the homestay program. This community recognizes that community‐based ecotourism can be a means of habitat protection and income for both wildlife protection and the local community.

This case study may not only contribute to an increased satisfaction level of tourists with the overall experience, but also to the attraction of new tourists, searching for a participatory role by simply choosing a homestay accommodation or physically contributing to conservation activities.

Following enactment of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973, a variety of organizations proceeded to establish lists of endangered, threatened, or rare species of wildlife that they believed fell within their purview. State lists, as opposed to regional or national lists, are of particular importance because they form a rigorous record of the status of species in small, well‐defined geographic areas. State lists also indicate the development status of legal management efforts in the various states and are, therefore, predictors of how rigorously species variety will be maintained. Online searches of environment, legal, and government indexes (Enviroline, NTIS, Agricola, and others) demonstrated that there is no organized way to identify official state lists and that, in fact, few official lists are cited within the voluminous environment literature.