ISSN: 2639-216X
Authors: Aksan Ş* and Yıldırım Y
This study aimed to investigate the socio-demographic characteristics of hunters in Burdur province in Türkiye based on the data of the Game Management Information System (AVBIS) being overseen by and under the control of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye. Hunter educational status, and their professional status were determined using the chi-squared test. In the light of the data obtained from a total of 3185 hunters, the group with the primary school level 36.4%, secondary school 10.9%, high school 15.6%, associate 3.1%, undergraduate 8.0%, master's degree 0.8%, doctoral degree graduates 0.1% and the unknown educational status were determined to be 25% (P<0.01). Considering the professional status, it has been determined that the largest share among occupational groups consists of 33.8% of self-employed and 23% of public sector employees, followed by 17.5% of tradesmen and 15.4% of retirees. Occupational groups with the lowest rate 1.7% the private sector, 1.3% students, and 0.3% industrialists with (P<0.01). A comparison of data regarding hunting grounds and the number of game animals hunted was made with Anova-Duncan. It was revealed that for gaming the hunters visited highest catch in the hunting grounds of Burdur province was 45.4% in Kemer (P<0.05). The lowest catch was found in Pamucak with 9.76%. The most hunted animal species in the hunting grounds of Burdur Province were found as 96.45% C. livia (P<0.01) and S. rusticola and G. gallinago species is quite low compared to other animal species. As is evident from this study, socio-demographic profiles of hunters in Burdur province, Türkiye, and in Europe appear to be similar. A significant difference was observed in terms of the number of female hunters. While the average of female hunters in some European countries reached 10,5% there is no female hunter registered in the AVBIS in Türkiye.
Keywords: Hunter; Game Animals; Wildlife; Hunting
