Intention to Participate in Saiga Antelope Conservation Among Young Chinese: Based on an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

Promoting public participation is a practical move to strengthen wildlife conservation, while exploring public's intention to participate is a common practice when the participation behavior cannot be observed. This study focused on the saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica, saiga hereafter), an endangered species which is highly concerned by the international community. Based on the survey data from 536 young Chinese aged 16 ~ 40 years old and an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB), we applied descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the intention to participate in the conservation of saiga and its influencing factors among young Chinese by attitude, norm, perceived behavioral control, conservation knowledge and sociodemographic characteristics. The results showed that: ① Respondents had a positive attitude towards saiga conservation, perceived the responsibility and social pressure to participate in the conservation, and their intention to participate was high, but had limited understanding of saiga and regarded it difficult to participate. ② Norm, perceived behavioral control, attitude, conservation knowledge and educational background positively and successively affected the intention, from strong to weak. ③ Reliability and validity of the scale and the model fit were good, showing that the extended TPB was verified and could effectively explain the intention to participate in saiga conservation. To promote public participation in saiga conservation, it is suggested to strengthen science popularization and broaden the channels of participation.