Context matters: German public perceptions of trophy hunting in sub-Saharan Africa

Proposed bans on the import of hunting trophies from African countries to Europe continue to spark international political tensions and public debate. Despite heated debates in Germany, Europe's largest and the world's second largest importer, empirical evidence on public perceptions is limited. Using an experimental vignette approach, we administered an online questionnaire to 882 rural and urban German participants and used ordinal regression to assess the acceptability of trophy hunting of African elephants and zebras. Overall acceptability was low, with 59.7–90.8 % of participants rating the hunting scenarios as unacceptable to a certain extent, but varied by context: while hunting a zebra was more acceptable than an elephant, participants showed consistency in whether they prioritised the need of people or that of wildlife, both in the usage of the hunted meat and the allocation of the revenue of the hunt. We did not find evidence for a rural-urban divide, while acceptability between zebra and elephant hunts was more pronounced among rural participants. Acceptability was higher among male participants, those who prioritised the interests of people over the interests of wild animals, and those who identified as hunters. Our findings emphasise the international complexities of public opinion on contentious issues in conservation and illuminate challenges decision-makers face when balancing the interests and perspectives of multiple publics. • Acceptability of trophy hunting in sub-Saharan Africa was low among members of the German public. • Characteristics of hunts (animal, meat use, and revenue allocation) affected acceptability. • Strong rural-urban differences not observed, although rural people found zebra hunts more acceptable. • Social identity (hunter and animal protectionist) and conservation priorities predicted acceptability. • Social acceptability appears lower in Germany than the UK, USA, or South Africa.