Hunting value of wild boar in Sweden: A choice experiment

The purpose of this study is to estimate hunters’ valuation of wild boar in Sweden. However, hunters have access to hunt, not only wild boar, but also other game such as moose and roe deer. Therefore, wild boar is regarded as an attribute of hunting together with other game, which includes moose, roe deer, and small game. A discrete choice experiment framework is used to elicit hunters’ trade-offs between wild boar, moose, roe deer and small game. Estimates with a mixed logit model showed that the average annual willingness to pay (WTP) for a wild boar is approximately SEK 330/animal, which corresponds to 1/8 of the average WTP for a moose and ¼ of that for a roe deer. The range in WTP is determined by the activity of the hunters, as measured by number of hunting days per year, the least active gives the lowest WTP (SEK 113) and the most active the highest WTP (SEK 529). This can be a result of the specific challenges when hunting the wild boars, which are active in night time and equipped with excellent hearing and smell. Hunters that are farmers also give a relatively low WTP (SEK 134), which can be explained by the damages on crops created by the animal.