Local opinions on trophy hunting in Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT

As traditional international trophy hunting destinations are becoming less accessible due to hunting restrictions and regulations, new destinations are entering the scene, such as the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, located in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan has grown to be one of the top destinations for international trophy hunting of argali Ovis ammon and ibex Capra sibirica, both of which are in danger of extinction. Empirically, the article draws on a case study from the largest region in Kyrgyzstan, At-Bashy, and 395 questionnaires with local inhabitants from 5 villages, and 1 interview with an international trophy hunting tour operator. In this article, the impacts of trophy hunting as a tourism practice in a rural context is discussed in terms of its sustainability and through the opinions of the local inhabitants. In sum, the negative impacts of trophy hunting in At-Bashy seem to overrule the positive ones, and in its current form it is not sustainable. The local inhabitants report about a decrease in argali and ibex during the last years; they receive basically no economic benefits from hunting tourism; and not surprisingly, 70% of the population rejects the further development of the industry in its current shape.

KEYWORDS:

• Trophy hunting
• rural tourism
• Kyrgyzstan
• sustainability
• local opinions

Acknowledgments

We especially thank the participants and interviewers of this study. We gratefully acknowledge Adilet Amalkanov, Atyrkul Mambetakunova, Azamat Nurdinov, Balyibubu Kadyralieva, Bolot Matakov, Duyshobubu Albanova, Nurjan Amankulova, Usonakun Turdumambetov, and Gordon Campbell for their assistance with the survey/interviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Annually, the government issues between 60 and 100 licenses for argali hunting, and one license costs about 15,000 USD (Turdumambetov, 2011).

Additional information

Funding

Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU) [Project no CPEA-2011/10017].

Notes on contributors

Ingeborg Nordbø

Ingeborg Nordbø is an associate professor at the Department of Economics and IT at The University College of southeast Norway, and is the leader of the research group on sustainable tourism. She received the PhD degree in tourism/entrepreneurship and the MSc degree in international economics and business administration from the University of Aalborg, Denmark, and has specialized in tourism development, sustainability and entrepreneurship in rural areas. She has worked as an advisor and manager of various projects within tourism and local community development and in a number of international settings, such as Denmark, Chile, Guatemala, Kyrgyzstan, China and Norway.

Bakyt Turdumambetov

Bakyt Turdumambetov is Head of the Department of Travel Management and Tourism Guidance, Kyrgyz Turkish Manas University. He received the PhD degree in economics from the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic. He is the author of the monograph Challenges and Perspectives of Tourism Development in Mountainous Conditions of the Kyrgyz Republic (2005, in Russian) and the co-author of the first manual in Central Asia for the course of “Ecotourism” (2006, in Russian). His current research interests cover international hunting tourism and equestrian and halal tourism potential in Kyrgyzstan.

Bilgehan Gulcan

Bilgehan Gülcan is an associate professor at the Department of Tourism Management in the Faculty of Tourism at Gazi University, Turkey. He received the PhD degree in education of tourism and hotel management and the MSc degree in tourism and hotel management from Gazi University, Turkey, and has specialized in tourism marketing, tourism education and alternative tourism. He has worked as a head of department and director of the Tourism and Hospitality Management Higher School in Kyrgyz Turkish Manas University for five years. He has conducted and participated in several international and national projects, especially in tourism education and tourism development in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan. His current research interest is tourism in Central Asia.