Anita Hashmi

Anita Hashmi is a PhD student at Manchester Metropolitan University, U.K. Her research focuses on the link between in and ex situ conservation and conservation genetics. She holds an MSc in Zoo Conservation Biology from Manchester Metropolitan, and a BSc in Biological Sciences with Study in Continental Europe from the University of Birmingham, during which time she spent a year abroad at Freie Universität Berlin.

As a part of her PhD research, Anita aims to assess attitudes to translocation as a conservation strategy for endangered African herbivores, and how attitudes differ between members of the public, conservation practitioners, and policymakers. Translocation, or the movement of organisms from one area to another, is often used in conservation action. Conservation is funded in part with public money, whether through taxes or donations from individual members of the public; therefore, the public may be seen as a stakeholder in conservation action. However, there is little information as to how common, recognized ethical values affect how the public views translocation action. Among conservation practitioners and policymakers, what drives translocation planning, and does this differ from what the public may prioritize? Through conjoint analysis, Anita hopes to assess the priorities of different stakeholder groups in translocation planning and establish the ethical principles important to conservation planning.