A review of the literature on benefits, costs, and policies for wildlife management

Wildlife management is a source of conflict in many countries because of the asymmetric allocation of benefits and costs among stakeholders. A review of studies on benefits, costs, and policies shows most valuation studies estimate recreational values of hunting, which can range between 13 and 545 USD/hunting day (in 2013 prices). A majority of the studies on costs calculate losses from livestock predation and crop destruction, and show that they can correspond to 40% of profits in the agricultural sector in wildlife rich regions in the US. Most of the studies are carried out for animals in developed economies, in particular in the US. This is in contrast to studies on costs of wildlife, which to a large extent are born by farmers neighboring national parks in developing and emerging economies. However, a common feature of both valuation and cost studies is the exclusion of several costs and benefits items and of indirect effects in the economies, which can be considerable for economies with high reliance on tourism and agriculture sectors. With respect to policy choice, the literature suggests economic incentives for conflict resolutions, where the winners from wildlife compensate the losses, but studies evaluating such policies in practice are lacking.