Bureaucrats vs. Bunnies : The dilemmas of urban wildlife management

• Municipal hunters and wildlife managers are entrusted with the task of keeping the urban fauna in balance through preemptive measures, and by culling animals. Based on interviews with hunters, municipal officials, and wildlife rescuers in ten municipalities in Sweden, as well as participant observations during hunts, this study identifies the dilemmas that people face as they engage in wildlife management. In conversations about birds, cats, deer, moose, and lots and lots of rabbits, the interviewees paint a picture of a tension-filled task of managing animals that are not quite wild, but definitely not tame. First, there needs to be a balance between invisibility, to carry through smooth culls, and transparency, to maintain the trust of the community. Second, there is sometimes a clash between efficiency and social acceptability, which means that best practices must sometimes be set aside in favor of more aesthetically appealing methods. Last, knowing when to hold your fire is just as central to urban wildlife management as knowing when to shoot—if not even more so. Therefore, to cull or not to cull is the third dilemma of urban wildlife management. 

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialantropologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Anthropology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Keyword

biosecurity

biopolitics

human-animal studies

necropolitics

rabbits

urban studies

wildlife management

thanatopolitics

Working Life Studies

arbetslivsvetenskap

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)