Humanities › Geography What is Cultural Carrying Capacity? Share Flipboard Email Print [Raimund Linke]/[Photodisc]/Getty Images Geography Population Basics Physical Geography Political Geography Country Information Key Figures & Milestones Maps Urban Geography By Doris Lin Animal Rights Attorney J.D., University of Southern California B.S., Applied Biological Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Doris Lin is an animal rights attorney and the director of legal affairs for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey. our editorial process Doris Lin Updated March 20, 2017 Definition: Cultural carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a species that the human population will tolerate. The number may or may not be the same as the species' biological carrying capacity. Cultural carrying capacity depends on human attitudes towards a species, so it can be influenced by public education campaigns. Examples: Hunting proponents argue that the deer have not reached their biological carrying capacity, but have reached their cultural carrying capacity. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Lin, Doris. "What is Cultural Carrying Capacity?" ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/what-is-cultural-carrying-capacity-127890. Lin, Doris. (2020, August 26). What is Cultural Carrying Capacity? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-cultural-carrying-capacity-127890 Lin, Doris. "What is Cultural Carrying Capacity?" ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-cultural-carrying-capacity-127890 (accessed June 23, 2021). copy citation