The Impact of Chronic Wasting Disease and its Management on Hunter Perceptions, Opinions, and Behaviors in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

The goal of this analysis was to identify changes in hunting behavior, satisfaction, and perceptions of risk in the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Hunters completed an Internet survey containing direct questions regarding the impacts of CWD and gathering information about real and hypothetical hunting trips. Overall, hunters were satisfied with CWD management, and although certain behaviors were altered, the perceived risk by hunters did not seem to be high. A travel cost model was used to determine whether differences in trip frequencies might be observed in response to CWD. The largest variation in trips was between urban and rural hunters, with urban hunters being less averse to traveling but more averse to CWD and the management program of extra tags.

Acknowledgments

Funding provided by the Alberta Prion Research Institute and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Notes

¹The actual infection rate in WMUs where the disease existed at the time of this study was considered low (2.5%) based on comparisons of similar rates in other parts of North America.

² Note that this model restricts the impacts of all variables on trips to be identical across WMUs. However it provides a convenient way to summarize the expected impact of CWD and other relevant factors on trips.

³ TC was calculated using the formula: where DIST is the round-trip distance in kilometers from each hunter's residence to the center of each WMU costing $0.30/km, and TINC is each respondent's income. The second term in this expression is the value of travel time, costing one quarter of the hourly wage (2080 h worked/yr) and an assumed average travel speed of 95 km/h. This approach is typically employed in travel costs models and is described in more detail in Boxall et al. (1996).

⁴Unfortunately, there are no data available about those respondents who were not eligible or did not want to complete the Internet survey, providing no information with which to check for nonresponse bias.