About the project
The project 'Denying harm? Neocolonial conservation through trophy hunting and zoos' (HARZOTROPH) investigates the legitimacy and consequences of trophy hunting and zoos. The project examines how these practices are justified by the industries themselves and experienced by trophy hunters and zoo visitors. It asks who benefits from trophy hunting and the keeping of wild animals in captivity, and whether these practices contribute to species conservation or instead exploit threatened wildlife and primarily benefit commercial interests. The project brings together perspectives from criminology, sociology of law, social anthropology and political science.
Method
'HARZOTROPH' uses a range of qualitative approaches. The research includes ethnographic fieldwork, interviews and surveys in Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. The project also conducts literature reviews and content analysis of websites and other relevant material produced by trophy-hunting and zoo industries. By comparing countries with different colonial histories and different levels of trophy hunting and zoo activity, the project examines how wildlife conservation, animal use and commercial interests are understood and legitimized across different contexts.
Objectives
The project aims to critically examine claims that trophy hunting and zoos contribute to wildlife conservation. It investigates who benefits from these activities and whether they protect species from extinction or contribute to the depletion and exploitation of threatened wildlife. A central objective is to assess whether arguments supporting trophy hunting and zoos are rooted in neocolonial relationships, or whether changing understandings of animal rights are challenging established practices. The project also seeks to strengthen interdisciplinary knowledge about wildlife exploitation, conservation and the social and legal structures that sustain exploitative practices of wildlife use.
Background
The background for the project is the escalating nature crisis and developing loss of free born animals who are subject to trade. It builds on the 'CRIMEANTHROP' project that revealed that zoos benefit from wildlife trafficking and that the export and import of trophies are a significant part of the trade. Both trophy hunting enterprises and zoos claim to contribute to wildlife conservation, but this needs empirical scrutiny.
The project builds on research in green criminology, human-animal relations, wildlife trafficking and the social and legal regulation of human–animal relations. The research compares countries with different colonial histories and different relationships to trophy hunting and zoos, to track the significance of the colonial roots for this phenomenon. The project starts in autumn 2026 and is designed as an international research collaboration.
Cooperation
'HARZOTROPH' is carried out by an international research team and brings together expertise from criminology, sociology of law, social anthropology and political science. International seminars, workshops and other collaborative activities will form an important part of the project.
The project includes an international research team. Further participant and partner information will be added as the project develops.
