For nuisance animals, the general public perceives translocation to be a humane alternative to lethal control measures, but survival of translocated wildlife is often quite low due in part to increased movement post-release. Thus, for common species whose relocation generally serves a social ratherthan conservation purpose, translocation might not be correctly characterized when presented as nonlethal. We quantified release site fidelity and survival of coyotes (Canis latrans) fitted with very high frequency radio-collars and translocated within the Chicago Metropolitan Area, Illinois, USA, from 2000 to 2006. We also compared survival for 14 weeks post-collaring for our translocated animals to that of 143 unmoved, control coyotes in the same region and used Cox proportional-hazards (CPH) models to evaluate the influence of translocation status, sex, age class, and collar season on survival. Of the 9 translocated coyotes, all animals vacated the site of release, 6 died within 14 weeks of collaring, and 3 animals were lost. Consequently, survival over the monitoring period was 0.00, relative to 0.88 for the unmoved coyotes. According to our CPH models, translocation status was the only factor contributing to reduced survival of the translocated animals (P <0.001). These results indicate that translocation does not provide for a more successful outcome for nuisance individuals than an approved euthanasia. If the risk to people and property is low and animal welfare is a local concern, nonlethal methods of reducing conflict, including education and behavior modification of humans, should be considered before translocation.
Economic pressures on rural livelihoods in Botswana are ever-increasing, especially for peripheral areas where resources harnessed for tourism purposes are prevalent. One of the avenues to achieve this balancing act is the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program of Botswana, which devolved management of resources to local communities to incentivise conservation through hunting tourism. However, due to questions over hunting sustainability as a conservation tool by conservation non-governmental organizations and animal rights groups, trophy hunting was banned in Botswana in 2014. The resultant impacts were felt not only by the hunting industry but also by communities through the loss of income and employment. For this research, we selected 2 villages impacted by the ban, namely Sankuyo and Mmadinare, based on their geographic separation, which gives an added dimension to the investigation of the phenomena. We conducted our research from June to August 2018. We interviewed 53 participants using semi-structured and structured interviews, consisting of 46 community members, 3 community trust leaders, and 4 former hunting employees. The results revealed that the ban had a more significant impact on Sankuyo village respondents, which has a smaller population than Mmadinare, also not closely situated to major conservation areas such as Mmadinare. Benefits lost by the community in Sankuyo include employment contributions, the sale of meat, and financial contributions to community development, which were significant for the small community. However, both communities experienced similar challenges due to the ban on trophy hunting, such as increased wildlife numbers, which escalated human-wildlife conflicts (HWCs). Our research furthermore revealed first that communities with a greater dependence on one single economic activity (hunting) lead to vulnerability, especially in small communities; secondly, attitudes changed toward wildlife in both communities due to an increase in HWCs; and thirdly, the communities had limited involvement in decision-making by the government in natural resource management by communities due to over-arching government powers despite the CBNRM. It is recommended that Botswana should re-examine the policy approach in implementing the CBNRM framework by the government by incorporating local control governance to maximize its effect on communities and conservation.
The increased global frequency of human-wildlife conflict with large, wild carnivores and omnivores negatively impacts human, wildlife, and ecosystem health. The goal ofthis study was to determine what landscape characteristics best predicted where human-black bear (Ursus americanus) interactions occurred in Nova Scotia, Canada, to support management efforts. We compared the location of 3,278 human-bear conflict reports and 867 non-conflict reports collected between 2017 and 2021 to 12,000 randomly generated locations. Data were analyzed using logistic additive mixed models. We found that interactions (conflict and non-conflict reports) occurred near roads and farther from forests and surface water features. These events were more likely in areas with higher forest edge density and with moderate housing density characteristic of fragmented and shared landscapes with humans and bears. These results can be used to better allocate limited resources and to target bear management efforts and approaches in this region based on the likelihood of human-bear interactions.
Social tolerance of carnivores can be improved by preventing conflicts through nonlethal predator deterrents (e.g., livestock protection dogs [Canis lupus familiaris] and human presence) that have been used for centuries. However, many livestock producers feel the existing preventative methods are inadequate for extensive production systems where livestock can be spread widely and have less human supervision. To address this issue, we developed and tested a new nonlethal tool called FlashTags to reduce livestock predation. FlashTags are eartags worn by livestock that flash a random-light pattern at night when motion-triggered. In the first year, we tested the devices on domestic ewes (Ovis aries) and found no effect on sheep behavior. In the second year, we fit FlashTags on livestock at 13 operations in North America to test their efficacy at reducing domestic livestock predation to determine if further development of the FlashTags was warranted. All sites were previously affected by chronic predation by coyotes (C. latrans), gray wolves (C. lupus), and/or grizzly bears (Ursus arctos). We observed a significant reduction in reported predation by coyotes and wolves at 2 operations where rigorous data were collected, and at all but 1 site, livestock producers reported lower or no livestock depredation with FlashTags. However, we encountered a design flaw in our prototype that resulted in the majority of FlashTags breaking before the grazing season ended. These results suggest FlashTags offer a novel, low-maintenance, low-cost, nonlethal deterrent that producers would use if design improvements are made.
European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) cause damage (including structural damage) on dairies, eat cattle feed, and can potentially spread disease through their fecal matter. Deterring starlings from dairies without affecting cow (Bos taurus) welfare is vital, and lasers have been effective starling deterrence tools in urban roosts and in some crops. To evaluate if the use of lasers on dairies would affect starling use of freestall barns as night roosts, or lactating cow behavior, 1 laser was installed in each of the 2 freestall barns at the Knott Dairy Center at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA. Lasers were turned on or off in both barns once a week on a set schedule. Starling counts occurred twice a week at sunset for a baseline week and 2 subsequent 4-week periods, in November 2022 and January 2023. CowManager Sensor activity monitoring ear tags were used to monitor lactating cow behavior during the entire study. Pen 1 and pen 2 had more birds in the final week of the study (1,108 birds and 325 birds, respectively) than during the baseline week (783 birds and 181 birds, respectively). No meaningful patterns emerged from the cow behavior data, so we concluded that the lasers did not have an effect on cow behavior. From this study, we were not able to conclude that the lasers were effective at deterring starlings from roosting in the freestall barns overnight, but a few simple adjustments to the laser may improve its efficacy in future studies.
