Scientific trends through bibliometric analysis approach in hunting and wildlife research

The research uses bibliometric methodology to study wildlife and hunting patterns through scientific publications from 1978 to 2024 which were obtained by searching for the terms “hunting” and “wildlife” and “wild animal”. We sourced the data from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection, conducting the analysis with the RStudio-Bibliometrix package and the Biblioshiny tool. The evaluation of 1451 documents showed an 11.29% annual growth rate for publications. The research data shows that academic research in this field has expanded quickly since 2000 while evolving into a multi-disciplinary academic field. The European Journal of Wildlife Research together with Journal of Wildlife Diseases, PLOS ONE and Biological Conservation proved to be the most influential journals while the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and University of Oxford published the most research. The USA along with the UK and Spain lead all countries in terms of their total national output through their highest publication and citation numbers. The keyword analysis indicates the literature is clustered around two fundamental themes: conservation ecology and population management, alongside zoonotic diseases and epidemiology. The research about wildlife and hunting has developed significantly during the last forty years because it now produces more results while scientists work together across different fields and study a wider range of topics. Our research establishes scientific evidence which will guide policymakers to develop regulations for environmental protection and wildlife conservation and disease prevention. This research aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals 15 (Life on Land) and 13 (Climate Action), by supporting biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management.