Evaluating relationships between hunting and biodiversity knowledge among children

ABSTRACT We investigated how hunting participation and associated demographic variables relate to biodiversity knowledge among children. Past participation in hunting among elementary age children in North Carolina, USA, surveyed during 2014 was high (29%) and a positive predictor of student's ability to name native wildlife species after controlling for gender, ethnicity, and grade level. Minorities and girls had lower biodiversity knowledge scores and were less supportive of hunting. Our findings suggest children may view hunting differently than adults and that youth hunting programs, particularly those targeting very young children, may be fruitful ways to promote biodiversity knowledge. Such efforts, however, may be most valuable among minorities because Hispanic children had the lowest participation in hunting and Black children had both low participation rates and lowest biodiversity knowledge scores. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.