Wildlife poaching is directly associated with illegal wildlife trade. Although poaching is recognized as a major threat to wildlife in India, it has not been analyzed quantitatively, because of a lack of data. Thus, the understanding of poaching or illegal wildlife trade and its true implications on conservation has not been considered by policymakers. The deficiency of data on poaching in the public domain also hampered scientific research on poaching. The lack of a scientific approach to analyze poaching creates a gap between reality and an effective solution to reduce its implications on wildlife conservation. Poaching has also been affected by fast economic development in India and the region, which has given rise to increased demand of wildlife. Protected areas, created to conserve wildlife, face pressure from poaching and demographic growth. Economic developments affect poaching and demographic changes and affect conservation.Analyzing this trend at the country and the global level can help predict future scenarios and develop effective strategies to reduce loss to biodiversity.We examined stakeholders' perspectives on wildlife policy development in India(Part 1) and analyzed poaching and other emerging threats to 3 different protected areas in India (Part 2). This analysis is based on the perceptions of the village communities living inside and on the fringe of the protected areas. We also conducted a temporal and spatial analysis of poaching in India from 1992-2006 (Part 3). This period sees the transformation of Indian economy following an economic liberalization process, which increased the development process. Finally, we analyzed the relationship between growth in the economy and wildlife conservation in India from a historical and statistical perspective(Part 4). This part also develops system feedback loop diagrams to determine possible10relationships between variables that are connected to conservation. The relationships are then assessed at the global level to understand the impact of economic growth on wildlife conservation and understand how it influences the endangered mammals and birds.

<p>The principle aim of this study was to gain insights into the perceptions of the people living in the Cape Agulhas Area of South Africa on the issues of small-scale fishing and the historical claims to fishing rights of the communities living in the fishing villages of Struisbaai and Waenhuiskrans. A further aim was to identify the gap between knowledge and the implementation of fishing rights policies by analysing existing policies on small-scale fishing and thereby identifying possible lessons and guidelines for policy formulation. Key focus areas were the historical recollections of people, their knowledge of past, current and proposed fishing legislation and their opinions, recommendations and guidelines regarding new and proposed policies. A qualitative framework was used for this study, using key informants and the taking of life histories. The two fishing communities served as case studies and life histories were documented using semi-structured interviews. The study drew on previous research in historical practices and indigenous knowledge systems and special attention was given to scientific and archaeological research. The policy processes from 1994 to the present were described and themes were identified in the literature and the life histories. The study found that many of the methods used in earlier years is still used today, passed over from generation to generation.</p>

The subject of this thesis was focused on the analysis of international trade with selected specimens of rhino species (trophies, horns, live rhinos, carvings, horn carvings, derivatives) in 2004 - 2013. The trade at the European Union, taking into accounts the position of the Czech Republic, and the global worldwide trade were evaluated in term of importer and exporter and source, purpose and origin of specimens. Evaluation was based on data from the Cites Trade Database which was further processed via contingency tables and graphs. It was found that there was a decrease of import and export in 2013. The most imported specimens were live rhinos in the world (40,5%) and trophies in the European Union, the most exported specimens were trophies in the world (39,4%) and carvings (80,7%) in the European Union. The largest importer was USA in the world (16,6%) and Spain in the European Union (3%). The largest exporter in the world was South Africa (73,9%) and United Kingdom in the European Union (4,6%). The Czech Republic was imported 0,8% of total import and exported 0,2% of total export. Imported specimens came mostly from the wild (62,1%), the country of origin was not completed and were imported mainly as hunting trophies (33,4%). Exported specimens came mostly from the wild (76,3%), the country of origin was not completed (82,2%) and were exported primarily as hunting trophies The results indicate an overall downward trend in the legal trade but also confirm the considerable interest in horns in Asia. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to monitor all transactions.

No description available.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / The principle aim of this study was to gain insights into the perceptions of the people living in the Cape Agulhas Area of South Africa on the issues of small-scale fishing and the historical claims to fishing rights of the communities living in the fishing villages of Struisbaai and Waenhuiskrans. A further aim was to identify the gap between knowledge and the implementation of fishing rights policies by analysing existing policies on small-scale fishing and thereby identifying possible lessons and guidelines for policy formulation. Key focus areas were the historical recollections of people, their knowledge of past, current and proposed fishing legislation and their opinions, recommendations and guidelines regarding new and proposed policies. A qualitative framework was used for this study, using key informants and the taking of life histories. The two fishing communities served as case studies and life histories were documented using semi-structured interviews. The study drew on previous research in historical practices and indigenous knowledge systems and special attention was given to scientific and archaeological research. The policy processes from 1994 to the present were described and themes were identified in the literature and the life histories. The study found that many of the methods used in earlier years is still used today, passed over from generation to generation. / South Africa

Two obstructionist ways of doing politics on contentious wildlife management issues currently reflect a legitimacy deficit in official channels for public engagement. The first is that of a pernicious “direct-action” politics, in the form of resort by hunters in rural Sweden to illegal killings of protected wolves over whose policy they contest. The second obstruction is when environmental non-governmental organizations routinely file appeals in higher-level courtrooms contesting democratically mandated wolf cull decisions. Although markedly different when it comes to their categorically deliberative values as well as fidelity to the law, we argue both extra-legal and the litigative phenomena reflect disenfranchisement with the participation channels in which such controversies may be resolved through a public dialogue. We also argue that both possess negative systemic deliberative value inasmuch as they frustrate goals of reaching deliberative consensus, by contributing to a stalled public communication on wolf management. We address this deficit by appeal to recent developments in the theory and practice of mini-publics that promote both the categorical and systemic deliberative value of channeling contestation. In particular, we appeal to a novel conception of hunter-initiated, but citizen controlled, mini-publics as a vehicle for re-starting stalled public communication on wolf conservation.

No description available.

In my dissertation, I study the strategic interplay among firm’s online communication, firm’s digital strategies and its impact on consumer decision making. I identify important strategies that firms can adopt while targeting consumers on search engine platforms, such as Google and Bing. For technology-firms interested in providing information cues to consumers, online advertising serves as an important tool to nudge consumers decision making. Through the use of diverse methodologies, including empirical, analytical, and behavioral, I attempt to answer important questions in this research space. Moreover, I investigate how firm strategies are affected by factors such as heterogeneity of consumer preferences, product quality, and competition. The research spans across disciplines, and makes contributions to Information Systems, Operations Management and Marketing. In essay 1 I investigate the novel context of “competitive poaching”, a phenomenon where firms can generate traffic from search advertising by bidding on competitors’ keywords. In this research I examine the factors that influence the effectiveness of competitive poaching, specifically the role of different ad copies and the type of competitor (poached brand) from which a brand is “poaching. ”I also examine how the presence of sponsored ads from the poached brand and its physical location affect competitive poaching. In Essay 2, I investigate a similar context but here instead of only competing against each other, firms are simultaneously competing and cooperating with each other while advertising on the search engine. Thus, we have a novel context where a firm and its third-party referral partner (often referred to as “Infomediaries”) compete and cooperate while advertising simultaneously on the search engine. In this context, how equilibrium payment and advertising strategies are affected by factors such as traffic quality, advertising effectiveness, leakage, and the nature of contract between the two firms, remains an open question. Using a game-theoretic model, I show that the novel balance between the competitive and the collaborative nature of the interaction, which itself gets affected by the choice of contract and changes in the environmental factors, alters equilibrium strategies commonly expected in existing literature. In my third essay, I study the novel yet increasingly common phenomenon of “multiscreen viewing”, a phenomenon where consumers are increasingly using additional devices (like smartphones or tablets) while watching TV. This provides an additional advertising channel for marketers, specifically the second screen. However, this is not without its complexities; as marketers must optimally time advertisements on the second screen conditional on multiple factors including consumers’ engagement level on the primary screen, consumers’ engagement level on the second screen, and the psychological involvement with the content on the primary screen. Administering multiple behavioral experiments, I investigate how factors such as users’ engagement with the primary screen (e.g., TV), users’ engagement with a second screen (e.g., Mobile), timing of the advertisement, and message congruence, affect second screen usage and ad recall. Theoretical and managerial contributions of each of these essays are discussed. / Business Administration/Management Information Systems

The carnivores of Madagascar are likely the least studied of the world's carnivores, thus little is known about threats to their persistence. I provide the first long-term assessment of Madagascar's rainforest carnivore community, including: 1) how multiple forms of habitat degradation (i.e., fragmentation, exotic carnivores, human encroachment, and hunting) affect native and exotic carnivore occupancy; 2) how native and exotic carnivore temporal activity overlap and how body size and niche explain these patterns; 3) how native and exotic carnivores spatially co-occur across the landscape and which variables explain these relationships; and 4) how native and exotic carnivores and humans co-occur with lemurs across Madagascar's largest protected landscape: the Masoala-Makira landscape. From 2008 to 2013 I photographically sampled carnivores and conducted line-transect surveys of lemurs at seven study sites with varying degrees of degradation and human encroachment, including repeat surveys of two sites. As degradation increased, exotic carnivores showed increases in activity and occupancy while endemic carnivore, small mammal, and lemur occupancy and/or activity decreased. Wild/feral cats (Felis sp.) and dogs (Canis familiaris) had higher occupancy (0.37 ± SE 0.08 and 0.61 ± SE 0.07, respectively) than half of the endemic carnivore species across the landscape. Additionally, exotic carnivores had both direct and indirect negative effects on native carnivore occupancy. For example, spotted fanaloka (Fossa fossana) occupancy (0.70 ± SE 0.07) was negatively impacted by both wild/feral cat (beta = -2.65) and Indian civets (beta = -1.20). My results revealed intense pressure from hunting (ex. n = 31 fosa Cryptoprocta ferox consumed per year from 2005-2011 across four villages), including evidence that hunters target intact forest where native carnivore and lemur occupancy and/or activity are highest. I found evidence of high temporal overlap between native and exotic carnivores (ex. temporal overlap between brown-tail vontsira Salanoia concolor and dogs is 0.88), including fosa (Cryptoprocta ferox) avoiding dogs and humans across all seasons. However, I found no evidence of body size or correlates of ecological niche explaining temporal overlap among carnivores. Estimates of spatial co-occurrence among native and exotic carnivores in rainforest habitat revealed strong evidence that native and exotic carnivores occur together less often than expected and that exotic carnivores may be replacing native carnivores in forests close to human settlements. For example, falanouc show a strong increase in occupancy when dogs are absent (0.69 ± SE 0.11) compared to when they are present (0.23 ± SE 0.05). Finally, the two-species interaction occupancy models for carnivores and lemurs, revealed a higher number of interactions among species across contiguous forest where carnivore and lemur occupancy were highest. These various anthropogenic pressures and their effects on carnivore and lemur populations, particularly increases in exotic carnivores and hunting, have wide-ranging, global implications and demand effective management plans to target the influx of exotic carnivores and unsustainable hunting affecting carnivore and primate populations across Madagascar and worldwide. / Ph. D.

The existence of the rhino is under serious threat. South Africa has experienced a dramatic increase in rhino poaching since 2008. With the current trend of poaching, rhino in South Africa will soon become extinct. The current strategies to protect rhino have proved to be ineffective. The common view is that rhino poaching is morally wrong, and associated with greed and evil intentions and that rhino poaching must be stopped; however, there are two schools of thought regarding two main approaches (in association with current strategies) to be used in order to stop or limit poaching. The first school of thought supports the CITES ban on international trade in rhino horn, and believes that rhino poaching can only be stopped by eliminating demand (the “conventional approach”). The second school of thought is in favour of the legalisation of international trade, and argues that any solutions to the rhino poaching problem must address the underlying economic forces. This is called the sustainable approach. The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the ban on international trade in rhino horn, as well as the viability of legalising international trade. The effectiveness of the current strategies was also investigated. A qualitative research design was used, and eighteen participants were selected in order to obtain information by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires.The first school of thought supports the CITES ban on international trade in rhino horn, and believes that rhino poaching can only be stopped by eliminating demand (the “conventional approach”). The second school of thought is in favour of the legalisation of international trade, and argues that any solutions to the rhino poaching problem must address the underlying economic forces. This is called the sustainable approach. The research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the ban on international trade in rhino horn, as well as the viability of legalising international trade. The effectiveness of the current strategies was also investigated. A qualitative research design was used, and eighteen participants were selected in order to obtain information by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. A literature review was also conducted, for the purpose of evaluating the responses of participants, and also for the purpose of validity and reliability. The findings indicated that the scales tip in favor of a well-managed, legalized trade, inter alia, to make funds available to rhino owners, rhino custodians and the government, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to reduce the reward and increase the risk to the poacher. Findings also indicated that a legalized trade cannot be implemented in isolation; it goes hand in hand with increased security and improved law enforcement, while strategies such as dehorning and translocation still have a role to play. Finally, findings also indicated that communities need to be involved in the sustainable use approach. These communities are currently excluded from the benefits derived from the neighboring protected areas, thereby making them susceptible to being recruited as poachers. / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Management)