Abstract
Here we analysed use and trade data for terrestrial mammal species worldwide and found that sport hunted species were more likely to have stable or increasing populations and less likely to be listed as threatened compared with non-sport hunted species. Species hunted for food were not more likely to have decreasing populations or be listed as threatened compared with those not hunted for food. These results suggest that sport hunting is linked with more favourable conservation status of mammal species and can be a component of sustainable wildlife management.
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Data availability
Data were provided by the IUCN at https://www.iucnredlist.org, and the final dataset is available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15837586 (ref. 27).
Code availability
Code is available via Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15837586 (ref. 27).
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Acknowledgements
We thank M. Hoffman for valuable feedback on earlier drafts of this manuscript and the Boone and Crockett Program in Wildlife Conservation at Michigan State University.
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J.E.H., K.F.K. and J.L.B. designed the research. J.L.B. acquired funding. J.E.H. and K.F.K. analysed data and generated figures. J.E.H. wrote the initial draft of the manuscript, and all co-authors contributed to the discussion, editing and approval of the paper.
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Nature Sustainability thanks Erica von Essen and Samuel Shephard for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Hill, J.E., Kellner, K.F. & Belant, J.L. Sport hunting associated with favourable conservation status of mammals. Nat Sustain 9, 46–50 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01714-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01714-6
