地方自治体は狩猟者減少時代をどう乗り越えればよいのか?(第18回大会シンポジウム「人口減少時代における『野生生物と社会』」)

抄録

There has been a marked decline in the hunter population in Japan. For the success of wildlife management, local governments should build a sustainable wildlife population management system (SWPMS). Here, I show the trend in the hunter population over the past 40 years and discuss the programs for building SWPMS. The decline in the hunter population started simultaneously across the whole of Japan from 1979. One of the reasons for this decline was that the hunting and gun ownership regulations were strengthened in 1978. As a result of these revisions, gun hunters have been declining since 1979. In contrast, the number of trappers, who desire to kill nuisance animals, has been increasing since the 1990s. According to our questionnaire surveys, which were conducted in 2012, the average retirement age of trappers (64.2 years) was younger than that of gun hunters (69.5 years). However, the average hunting career of trappers (9.3 years) was considerably shorter than that of gun hunters (40.0 years). These results suggest that the increase in trappers may not be effective for SWPMS. Three programs are necessary for SWPMS. The first is to increase the bag per hunter. The second is to increase and educate the candidates for hunting. The third is to provide economic incentives for population management activities. Implemented in combination, these programs would make it possible to build SWPMS.