Understanding wildlife viewers using the R3 framework

Abstract Participation in wildlife viewing (observing, feeding, or photographing wildlife, or traveling to parks and natural areas to observe, feed, or photograph wildlife) has been growing for decades in the United States, though it is less studied than other wildlife‐related activities like hunting and fishing. In this study, we applied frameworks from hunting literature (R3 and Social Habitat for Hunting) to understand participation in wildlife viewing during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic. These frameworks suggest that participation may be best studied as a series of 4 overlapping scales of social support (macro, meso, micro, and individual) that must be considered in tandem. Using a panel survey of wildlife viewers in the United States, we found 7% of respondents were recruited (began participating for the first time), 56% retained (no change in participation), 24% churned (stopped participating in wildlife viewing), and 13% reactivated (resumed participation in wildlife viewing) during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Recruited wildlife viewers were more likely to be women than retained wildlife viewers, and both recruited and reactivated wildlife viewers were younger and more likely to be Black, Indigenous, or people of color than retained viewers, highlighting the potential for supporting this population to continue diversifying participation in wildlife viewing. We found that, generally, the retained group reported stronger identity as wildlife viewers and received more family support in their participation in wildlife viewing than recruited wildlife viewers, suggesting these levels of support may be influential for continued participation in wildlife viewing. This study implies that the R3 and Social Habitat for Hunting frameworks may be further adapted to support management of wildlife viewing and connecting more people to wildlife.