Illegal harvest of renewable natural resources in North America: Toward a typology of the motivations for poaching

Abstract

In many areas of North America, illegal hunting, fishing, and gathering of renewable natural resources are occurring with alarming and increasing frequency. Resource professionals, law enforcement officers, and the general public are becoming increasingly concerned about the poaching problem, as localized populations of wildlife, fish, and plant species are threatened with extirpation, and as legitimate users—consumptive and nonconsumptive alike—are deprived of resource utilization opportunities. An important step toward developing more effective environmental education, public information, and law enforcement programs to combat poaching is to develop an understanding of why people poach. Based on a literature review and content analysis, we summarized and classified the motivations for poaching that appeared in the literature into the following typology: (1) commercial gain, (2) household consumption, (3) recreational satisfactions, (4) trophy poaching, (5) thrill killing, (6) protection of self and property, (7) poaching as rebellion, (8) poaching as a traditional right, (9) disagreement with specific regulations, and (10) gamesmanship. This typology of motivational categories can serve as a useful heuristic tool to guide future empirical studies of poaching, as well as to assist resource managers in developing effective antipoach‐ing programs.