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Carnivore conservation needs evidence-based livestock protection.

ABSTRACT: Carnivore predation on livestock often leads people to retaliate. Persecution by humans has contributed strongly to global endangerment of carnivores. Preventing livestock losses would help to achieve three goals common to many human societies: preserve nature, protect animal welfare, and safeguard human livelihoods. Between 2016 and 2018, four independent reviews evaluated >40 years of research on lethal and nonlethal interventions for reducing predation on livestock. From 114 studies, we find a striking conclusion: scarce quantitative comparisons of interventions and scarce comparisons against experimental controls preclude strong inference about the effectiveness of methods. For wise investment of public resources in protecting livestock and carnivores, evidence of effectiveness should be a prerequisite to policy making or large-scale funding of any method or, at a minimum, should be measured during implementation. An appropriate evidence base is needed, and we recommend a coalition of scientists and managers be formed to establish and encourage use of consistent standards in future experimental evaluations.

SUBMITTER: van Eeden LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6143182 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Carnivore conservation needs evidence-based livestock protection.

van Eeden Lily M LM Eklund Ann A Miller Jennifer R B JRB López-Bao José Vicente JV Chapron Guillaume G Cejtin Mikael R MR Crowther Mathew S MS Dickman Christopher R CR Frank Jens J Krofel Miha M Macdonald David W DW McManus Jeannine J Meyer Tara K TK Middleton Arthur D AD Newsome Thomas M TM Ripple William J WJ Ritchie Euan G EG Schmitz Oswald J OJ Stoner Kelly J KJ Tourani Mahdieh M Treves Adrian A

PLoS biology 20180918 9

Carnivore predation on livestock often leads people to retaliate. Persecution by humans has contributed strongly to global endangerment of carnivores. Preventing livestock losses would help to achieve three goals common to many human societies: preserve nature, protect animal welfare, and safeguard human livelihoods. Between 2016 and 2018, four independent reviews evaluated >40 years of research on lethal and nonlethal interventions for reducing predation on livestock. From 114 studies, we find ...[more]

PMID: 30226872

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Project description:Livestock predation is a global problem and constitutes the main source of conflict between large carnivores and human interests. In Latin America, both jaguar and puma are known to prey on livestock, yet studies in Mesoamerica have been scattered and few have been carried out in Honduras. We interviewed ranchers in a biosphere reserve where jaguars and pumas are present. Local indigenous communities reported livestock predation (average annual loss of 7% from 2010-2019), with preventive and retaliatory killing as their main actions against predation by the jaguar and puma. Other sources of cattle loss included diseases and theft. The extensive management system (free grazing) lets cattle access forests where predators are more common. We found that livestock predation is not random, but rather, related to landscape variables and human influence. Sites farther from human influence and closer to forest cover were more susceptible to predation. Jaguar and puma persistence in the biosphere reserve will require measures that facilitate human-carnivore coexistence and comply with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 and 15 (zero hunger and biodiversity conservation). We propose management practices to mitigate livestock predation in the presence of large carnivores based on examples of proven human-carnivore coexistence in Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay, and Nicaragua, such as improving the spatial arrangement of livestock (maintaining a distance from forest areas) and the incorporation of confinement pens for young calves (at least the first three months of life) and their mothers. If the pens are built close to the property's house and have constant surveillance and/or dogs, the results are likely to be more effective. Deploying these proven tools may help change the current negative perception of ranchers towards large carnivores that is essential to conservation under the aims of SDG 15. We recommend government policies and support aimed to strengthen livestock health to increase productivity and to reduce their vulnerability to predation. Finally, this study represents a baseline to understand the magnitude of the human-carnivore conflict over cattle in one of the largest biosphere reserves in Mesoamerica.

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Dataset Information

Carnivore conservation needs evidence-based livestock protection.

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Carnivore conservation needs evidence-based livestock protection.

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