Promoting more effective wildlife monitoring by understanding the perceptions and occupational culture of wildlife rangers.

Abstract

This study was conducted by interviewing 26 wildlife rangers in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe, to understand their attitudes towards patrol-based data collection. It was shown that the rangers saw data collection as a fundamental duty and reporting field observations to their supervisors as an important way to demonstrate a job well done. The occupational culture of rangers was a key driver of these perceptions and their broader behaviour, particularly their strong sense of duty and their deference to authority. This occupational culture strongly influenced how the rangers perceived their roles and responsibilities around data collection and management. These insights helped in the design of a strategy for achieving a more meaningful engagement of rangers with monitoring.

Key words

• attitudes
• attitudes to work
• behaviour
• data collection
• opinions
• park rangers
• regulations
• wild animals
• wildlife conservation
• wildlife management
• wildlife parks