Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Human-Wildlife conflict and coexistence'
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van, Eeden Lily Mahailah. "Learning to live with dingoes: improving wildlife management by understanding social constraints on coexistence with carnivores." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/21918.
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Conflict between humans and wildlife impacts both biodiversity and humans. I explored Australian dingo management to understand how humans shape wildlife management outcomes. There is little evidence available to inform dingo management decisions, so I explored social and historical dimensions to understand contemporary practices, how they came to be, and how they might change. I focused on livestock producers and the Australian public. The main goal of dingo management is to protect livestock, so I explored graziers’ historic and contemporary interactions with and attitudes towards dingoes. I analysed the results of a nation-wide survey conducted in the 1950s and recreated aspects of this study in a newer survey to explore changes over time. Doing so revealed that management practices have not changed greatly in the past six decades, remaining focussed on lethal control, and that current behaviours are primarily predicted by social factors. I then explored public awareness of and attitudes towards management of dingoes and other species deemed pests in a nation-wide survey. There was little public support for current lethal control, but some support for nonlethal management and for maintaining dingoes in the landscape to perform a role as top predator. Australians justified lethal control of wild animals based on whether they considered a species to be native or non-native and/or a pest. The dingo has been portrayed as both native and non-native, agricultural pest and conservation hero, meaning public awareness and attitudes have likely been influenced by framing by different stakeholders. I suggest that limited public awareness has resulted in little scrutiny of contemporary practices. Based on these findings, I develop a Theory of Change using behaviour change theory to promote evidence-based policy and management. My framework promotes appropriate monitoring and evaluation, raising public awareness, and marketing tailored to suit rural social norms and cultures.
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Usman, Muhammad Faizan. "Confronting complex challenges of human-wildlife coexistence in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier conservation area." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Paris, AgroParisTech, 2024. http://www.theses.fr/2024AGPT0005.
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La thèse étudie la dynamique des interactions homme-faune, en se concentrant sur la relation entre les peuples indigènes Tonga et la faune dans le district de Binga au Zimbabwe. La recherche vise à développer et à mettre en œuvre des stratégies intégrées de conservation et de développement qui favorisent une coexistence humain-faune efficace. Les communautés vivant à proximité des habitats de la faune doivent souvent faire face aux effets négatifs de la faune tels que le pillage des cultures et la prédation du bétail sur une base régulière, ce qui conduit à une confrontation entre les moyens de subsistance locaux et la conservation de la faune. Cette thèse utilise le Wildlife Tolerance Model (WTM) pour explorer les interactions homme-faune, en examinant les facteurs qui influencent la tolérance communautaire envers la faune et les déterminants de ces interactions basés sur des coûts et des bénéfices tangibles et intangibles.Le travail est divisé en trois parties principales. La première partie explore l'application du WTM dans le contexte des peuples Tonga résidant dans la partie zimbabwéenne de la zone de conservation transfrontalière Kavango-Zambèze. Elle identifie également les principales espèces de faune à l'origine de conflits et examine comment les coûts et bénéfices tangibles et intangibles influencent la tolérance des peuples indigènes Tonga locaux envers ces espèces. La deuxième partie présente une étude de cas sur les interactions homme-éléphant dans la zone du projet. Elle évalue comment la proximité avec des caractéristiques environnementales et anthropiques propices aux conflits telles que les forêts, les zones protégées et les points d'eau influence les interactions homme-éléphant et les perceptions communautaires envers les éléphants. La troisième partie évalue les impacts de certaines interventions du Programme de Gestion Durable de la Faune (Sustainable Wildlife Management) en utilisant l'approche Before-After-Control-Impact intégrée avec le WTM. Elle fournit également un cadre à la pointe de la technologie pour l'évaluation des impacts des projets de conservation, mettant en évidence les changements dans les perceptions communautaires et la tolérance envers la faune après l'intervention.Les principales découvertes indiquent que, bien que les coûts tangibles comme la prédation du bétail et le pillage des cultures soient importants, les facteurs intangibles tels que les perceptions et attitudes communautaires envers la faune sont plus cruciaux pour les interactions homme-faune. Les interventions centrées sur la communauté, bien planifiées, ont mené à des résultats positifs marquants, augmentant les émotions positives et la tolérance envers la faune. Malgré des défis liés aux interactions complexes et culturelles, l'efficacité de ces interventions a été validée par des résultats globalement positifs.La thèse contribue au domaine en fournissant une compréhension complète des complexités impliquées dans la coexistence homme-faune et en offrant des recommandations fondées sur des preuves pour des stratégies de conservation qui peuvent être adaptées à des contextes socio-écologiques spécifiques. Cette recherche souligne l'importance d'intégrer la psychologie de la conservation et les approches communautaires pour aborder les défis des conflits homme-faune, en plaidant pour une approche multidimensionnelle qui prend en compte à la fois les dimensions écologiques et sociales de la gestion de la faune.Enfin, les résultats de cette recherche devraient informer la politique et la pratique en matière de gestion de la faune, en particulier dans les régions où les moyens de subsistance humains sont étroitement liés aux écosystèmes naturels. La thèse non seulement avance notre compréhension des relations homme-faune mais propose également un cadre pour une coexistence durable qui peut être appliqué dans des scénarios de conservation similaires à l'échelle mondialeThe thesis investigates the dynamics of human-wildlife interactions, focusing on the relationship between the Tonga indigenous people and wildlife in the Binga district of Zimbabwe. The research aims to develop and implement integrated conservation and development strategies that promote effective human-wildlife coexistence. Communities that live close to wildlife habitats often have to deal with the negative effects of wildlife such as crop raiding and livestock predation on a routine basis, which leads to a confrontation between local livelihoods and the conservation of wildlife. This thesis uses the Wildlife Tolerance Model (WTM) to explore human-wildlife interactions, examining factors that influence community tolerance towards wildlife and the determinants of these interactions based on tangible and intangible costs and benefits.The work is divided into three main parts. The first part explores the application of the WTM in the context of the Tonga people residing within the Zimbabwean part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. It also identifies the major conflict-causing wildlife species and examines how tangible and intangible costs and benefits influence the tolerance of the local Tonga indigenous people toward these species. The second part presents a case study on human-elephant interactions within the project area. It assesses how proximity to conflict-prone environmental and manmade features such as forests, protected areas, and water points influence human-elephant interactions and community perceptions towards elephants. The third part evaluates the impacts of some of the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme interventions using the Before-After-Control-Impact approach integrated with the WTM. It also provides a state-of-the-art framework for impact evaluation of conservation projects, highlighting the changes in community perceptions and tolerance toward wildlife post-intervention.Key findings reveal that while tangible costs such as livestock predation and crop raiding are significant, intangible factors like community perceptions and attitudes towards wildlife play a more crucial role in shaping human-wildlife interactions. Moreover, we highlight how well-planned interventions that keep the community at the center can yield significantly positive results and promote human-wildlife coexistence. The research shows how these interventions led to an increase in positive emotions toward wildlife, perceived intangible benefits from wildlife, and subsequently wildlife tolerance. Despite facing challenges due to complex and culturally influenced human-wildlife interactions, the overall positive outcomes validate the effectiveness of these interventions.The thesis contributes to the field by providing a comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved in human-wildlife coexistence and offering evidence-based recommendations for conservation strategies that can be tailored to specific socio-ecological contexts. This research highlights the importance of integrating conservation psychology and community-based approaches to address the challenges of human-wildlife conflicts, advocating for a multidimensional approach that considers both the ecological and social dimensions of wildlife management.Lastly, the findings from this research are expected to inform policy and practice in wildlife management, particularly in regions where human livelihoods are closely tied to natural ecosystems. The thesis not only advances our understanding of human-wildlife relations but also proposes a framework for sustainable coexistence that can be applied in similar conservation scenarios globally
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Castaldo-Walsh, Cynthia. "Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence in a More-than-Human World: A Multiple Case Study Exploring the Human-Elephant-Conservation Nexus in Namibia and Sri Lanka." Diss., NSUWorks, 2019. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/134.
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This qualitative multiple case study explored human-elephant conflict-coexistence relationships and issues of conservation in Namibia (Damaraland) and Sri Lanka (Wasgamuwa) from a posthumanist, multispecies perspective. Within each region, conflict between humans and elephants is considered high, elephants are considered endangered and are of high conservation priority, the human population has grown significantly, and community-based organizations are implementing holistic approaches to increase positive relations between humans and elephants. This study was guided by research questions that explored the current landscape of the human-elephant-conservation nexus within each region, the shared histories between humans and elephants over time, and the value in utilizing more-than-human theoretical and methodological frameworks to enhance human-elephant relationships and support conservation efforts. Data collection methods included participant observation, naturalistic observation, interviews, visual data, and documents. Data was triangulated and analyzed within each case, as well as across cases. Major themes were identified within each case that describe unique contexts, cultures, and shared histories. These findings were then analyzed comparatively. Emergent themes across cases identified ways that a more-than-human framework may be useful in fostering coexistence between humans and elephants and supporting conservation efforts. This study contributes to the evolving scholarship on multispecies approaches to inquiry and methodology from the position of conflict resolution scholar, supports a more inclusive framework for analyzing human-wildlife conflicts, discusses theoretical and methodological implications in multispecies research, and provides recommendations for future research.
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Boast, Lorraine Kara. "Exploring the causes of and mitigation options for human-predator conflict on game ranches in Botswana: How is coexistence possible?" Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12722.
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Includes bibliographical references.Large carnivores in southern Africa are threatened by habitat loss and persecution by humans. Game ranches have the potential to provide habitat for free-ranging predators, but carnivore depredation on game-stock can result in human-predator conflict, and the industry's role in predator conservation has been described as a gap in knowledge. The density of predators on Botswana commercial farmland was calculated using spoor and camera-trap surveys. Scat-analysis was used to determine the proportion of livestock and game-stock in the cheetah's diet, the species reported to cause the biggest economic losses on Botswana game ranches. Questionnaires to determine the direct costs, drivers and potential mitigation methods of human-predator conflict, were conducted with a representative from 86.2% of registered game ranches in Botswana, plus an additional 27 livestock farmers. The effectiveness of translocating 'problem' predators was analysed using questionnaires with farmers and survival data from 11 GPS-collared 'problem' cheetahs.
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Cotterill, Alayne. "Behavioural adjustments of lion (Panthera leo) in response to risk of human-caused mortality." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:168dba11-be33-4d09-9c68-8c204c126098.
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Fear of predation can have a major impact on the behaviour of prey species. Despite recent codifying of the concept of the ecology of fear, there has been relatively little focus on how these ideas apply to large carnivore species which, although not prey sensu stricto, may experience fear as a result of threats from humans. This thesis argues that large mammalian carnivores are subject to a Landscape of Fear similar to that described for prey species, and will respond behaviourally to fear of human-caused mortality. The idea of a "Landscape of Coexistence" is introduced to denote the perceived risk from humans and associated behavioural responses that can be overlain on spatio-temporally heterogeneous landscapes. Literature on the ecology of fear for large mammalian carnivores and, as there is a dearth of such literature, the current theory on the ecology of fear for other guilds is reviewed, and how this might inform large carnivore behaviour in a Landscape of Coexistence is explored. Behavioural effects of human-caused mortality risk are revealed for lions living in a human dominated landscape (Laikipia County, Kenya), specifically how lions adjust their movement patterns, habitat use and foraging tactics when in proximity to humans. It is argued that these behavioural adjustments represent a trade-off between maximising fitness enhancing activities and minimising the risk of human-caused mortality, thus need to be taken into consideration along with the lethal effects of humans when explaining the density, distribution and behaviour of lions throughout much of their remaining range. Although fear is generic, 'human-caused mortality risk' represents a distinct and very important sub-set of the ecology of fear for the carnivore guild. The existence of a Landscape of Coexistence has implications for understanding their foraging ecology, and ultimately their population dynamics and role in the ecosystem, and is therefore, important for the conservation of large carnivores throughout large parts of their remaining ranges.
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Soares, Nuno Miguel Negrões. "Human - wildlife coexistence in the Amazon agricultural frontier." Doctoral thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/965.
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Doutoramento em BiologiaNos últimos anos, a conservação da biodiversidade tem-se revelado como um dos maiores desafios que a humanidade enfrenta, no sentido de salvaguardar o frágil equilíbrio dos ecossistemas no nosso planeta. A procura de medidas de preservação revela-se essencial em zonas de elevada riqueza natural, como são o caso das florestas tropicais da Amazónia, que vêm, sistematicamente, a sofrer um aumento da pressão humana, quer pela expansão da agricultura e pecuária, quer pela crescente exploração dos seus recursos naturais. Neste cenário, as áreas protegidas surgem como um instrumento fundamental para preservação da biodiversidade face à crescente antropização. Aos grandes predadores é reconhecida a importância na manutenção dos ecossistemas pelo papel-chave que ocupam nas cadeias tróficas. O impacto a larga escala, consequente da extinção/redução de grandes carnívoros, acaba por afectar aspectos locais (diversidade) ou mesmo regionais (ciclo da água). Por este motivo, o estudo das relações entre os grandes carnívoros e o homem torna-se relevante na definição de políticas de gestão, contribuindo ainda para a avaliação da eficácia de medidas de conservação, como a funcionalidade de áreas protegidas. Com este estudo pretendeu-se avaliar o estado das populações de dois grandes felinos – jaguar (Panthera onca) e puma (Puma concolor) – numa área protegida (Parque Estadual do Cantão - PEC) e numa área privada (Fazenda Santa Fé - FSF), com o objectivo de aferir a eficácia das reservas naturais, na região do “arco do desmatamento”. As densidades de jaguar e puma foram calculadas ao longo de 3 anos nas estações da chuva e seca. Este estudo contribuiu ainda para um aumento do conhecimento sobre a riqueza de espécies nesta região, nomeadamente dentro do PEC e da FSF. Concluímos que a existência do PEC per se não garante a preservação da biodiversidade, uma vez que está fortemente dependente das áreas florestais adjacentes para conservar a riqueza faunística. Simultaneamente, observamos que os grandes carnívoros, quer pelas características biológicas quer pelo conflito directo com o Homem (resultado de predação sobre o gado), podem ser utilizados como espécies-foco. Observamos ainda que a monitorização das populações destes carnívoros fornece informação indispensável para a avaliação do impacto das actividades humanas e para definir acções de gestão para esta região. A preservação da biodiversidade no “arco do desmatamento” passa pela implementação de planos de conservação concretos que incidam, nomeadamente, no aumento da fiscalização da lei ambiental e no aumento da sensibilização das populações locais (crescente apoio técnico-educativo), no sentido de fomentar o desenvolvimento sustentável.
Biodiversity preservation emerged in the last couple of years has one of the main worldwide problems and a great challenge for next generation to come, in order to secure quality of live on planet earth. This fact is of particular importance in the Amazon, a region of high biodiversity that suffers an increase human pressure due to expanding agricultural frontier and exploitation of natural resources. In this region protected areas stand as an essential tool to allow coexistence between man and wildlife. Large predators are key elements in ecosystem functioning because of their important role in food chains. The impact of large-scale extinctions/reduction of large carnivores can reach local (diversity of wildlife) and regional (water cycle) effects. Consequently relationship between man and large carnivores is an important issue on management, furthermore helping in the evaluation of conservation measures like protected areas. In this research we focus on determining the status of large cats (jaguar and puma) population inside a protected area (Cantão State Park, CS - Park) and private forest reserve (Santa Fé Ranch, SF - Ranch) in order to evaluate protected area efficiency in the high human impacted region “arc of deforestation”. Using camera-trapping methodology we determine jaguar and puma density in the region throughout three years and different seasons. We also estimate terrestrial vertebrate richness in CS-Park and SF-Ranch. We observed that CS-Park per se could not guarantee biodiversity preservation at local level and is strongly depended on the securing neighbouring private forest reserves to maintain fauna diversity. We demonstrate also that large carnivores can be used as focal species in management approach in this area. Due to their specific biological demands and the direct interaction with man (consequence of cattle depredation) monitoring carnivore population status creates knowledge baseline from were we can evaluate human impact and launch specific conservation actions in the region. To achieve ultimate preservation goals we suggest intensification on environmental law enforcement and raise technical and educational support to local population towards a more sustainable development.
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Holzer, Katie Ann. "Amphibian-Human Coexistence in Urban Areas." Thesis, University of California, Davis, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3646306.
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Pristine landscapes are decreasing throughout the world, and many of Earth's species can no longer survive exclusively in the remaining small and isolated reserves. At the same time, urban landscapes are increasing, and can serve as potential habitat for many wildlife species. Amphibians are facing striking global declines and are particularly impacted by urban development as they often reside in areas attractive for human settlements such as flat, productive lowland areas with abundant fresh water. My dissertation aims to increase understanding of amphibian use of these landscapes and how management and planning can adapt to benefit their persistence. I conducted observational studies of amphibians and associated habitat features in two very difference landscapes and constructed experimental ponds to examine relationships between a native frog, a common pollutant, and common urban wetland plants. One observational study was in Portland, Oregon where formerly abundant wetlands have been destroyed and altered while many have also been restored or created. The other was throughout the relatively understudied urban and agricultural centers of Vietnam where biodiversity and human population growth are high. In both Portland and Vietnam I found that most regionally occurring native amphibians were breeding within city landscapes and in human-constructed water bodies. A common pollutant, nitrate, was strongly negatively associated with amphibians in Portland. In a mesocosm experiment I found that correlated contaminants are likely driving the pattern. In both Portland and Vietnam, presence of aquatic vegetation and amount of surrounding upland habitat were highly influential for native amphibians. Aquatic vegetation can take many forms, and in urban areas is often dominated by introduced species. I conducted experimental ponds studies to examine the relationship between a native frog and common native and introduced aquatic plant species. I found that the frog preferred and performed better in introduced reed canary grass than any other plants offered. This demonstrates that introduced plants are not universally detrimental to native wildlife species, and that management of these plants should consider the potential negative effects of control actions, especially in urban areas where restoration to a former pristine state is unlikely. Urban areas do not have to be devoid of diverse native amphibian communities, and instead should be viewed as potential habitat for conservation and environmental education. Amphibian use of human-constructed ponds, potted ornamental plants, and introduced reed canary grass demonstrates the adaptability of many species and the need for an integrated view of conservation that includes non-pristine areas. Using the information from this dissertation, city planners and managers can maintain and improve human-dominated landscapes to benefit native amphibians and promote their continued coexistence with humans in these areas.
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Gastineau, Adrienne. "Patrons spatiaux et processus écologiques de déprédation par les grands carnivores : le cas de l’ours brun et des troupeaux domestiques en Europe de l’Ouest." Thesis, Sorbonne université, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019SORUS111.
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Les conflits entre l'homme et la faune sauvage constituent une menace pour les espèces en voie de disparition, ce qui met en péril sa conservation à l’échelle mondiale. En particulier, préserver les grands carnivores pose le défi de la coexistence avec les humains. En Europe, le chevauchement entre activités humaines et habitats naturels est inévitable. Ce chevauchement induit des interactions parfois négatives avec les grands carnivores. La prédation sur les troupeaux domestiques, ou déprédation, est l'un des principaux facteurs limitant leur acceptation. La déprédation est un conflit très répandu à l'échelle mondiale et semble particulièrement intense dans les zones de recolonisation. Afin de réduire les dommages causés aux troupeaux, il est nécessaire de comprendre comment la déprédation varie dans l'espace et dans le temps. La conservation des populations d'Ours brun (Ursus arctos) dans les Pyrénées et dans les Alpes italiennes, populations renforcées par la translocation d’individus Slovènes, offrent des cas d'études pertinents pour illustrer cette problématique. Dans cette thèse, je me suis intéressée dans un premier temps à l'agrégation spatiale des événements de déprédation dans les Pyrénées Centrales françaises à l’aide d’un test du Getis- Ord de dépendance spatiale. Cette analyse a mis en évidence la présence de points chauds significatifs de déprédation de l'ours brun (ou foyers d’attaque) ainsi que l'absence de zones froides. Les points chauds de déprédation sont autocorrélés dans le temps, ce qui signifie qu'un point chaud d'une année est susceptible d'exister au cours des années suivantes. A une échelle plus fine, cette analyse a permis d’identifier des points chauds inter- et intra-estives et une méthode simple pour redimensionner ces résultats à plus large échelle est proposée. Les phénomènes de déprédation ont été identifiés comme étant concentrés dans des points chauds et liés à certaines caractéristiques environnementales ("effet site"). L'objectif était d'identifier les principaux facteurs paysagers où les troupeaux domestiques étaient les plus vulnérables à l'ours brun. La transférabilité des résultats développés dans un contexte local spécifique a été évaluée par la comparaison des populations Pyrénéenne et Alpine. Dans les deux populations, nous avons analysé l'activité de l'ours brun, le terrain, l'infrastructure humaine et les variables d'habitat pour la période 2010 - 2017. Les résultats indiquent que l'activité de l'ours brun, la proportion de prairie, la distance par rapport à la forêt et la rugosité du terrain sont fortement associées au risque de déprédation, de façons similaires dans les deux zones d'étude. Au-delà des effets de l’environnement, les comportements individuels des prédateurs sont susceptibles d’influencer les patrons de déprédation. Les choix effectués par les ours au cours de leurs déplacements engendrent des spécificités d’utilisation de leur habitat et des items alimentaires pouvant participer à la création des points chauds de déprédation. Ainsi, les caractéristiques des mouvements des individus peuvent être motivés par différentes activités comme la recherche de nourriture ou d’un partenaire pour la reproduction. Enfin, éviter et réduire les dégâts liés aux grands carnivores peut participer à l’amélioration de leur statut de conservation par la biais de l’amélioration de leur tolérance par les humains. Un panorama des situations de conflit entre les humains et les carnivores à l’échelle mondiale a été dressé afin d’évaluer l'efficacité de trois catégories de réponses aux conflits (non létales, translocations et létales)Conflicts between humans and wildlife pose a threat to endangered species, which threatens their conservation worldwide. In particular, preserving large carnivores challenges the coexistence with humans. In Europe, the overlap between human activities and natural habitats is mandatory. This overlap leads sometimes to negative interactions with large carnivores. Predation on domestic herds, or depredation, is one of the main factors limiting their acceptance. Depredation is a widespread global conflict and seems particularly intense in recolonization areas. In order to reduce damage to herds, it is necessary to understand how depredation varies over space and time. The conservation of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in the Pyrenees and the Italian Alps, populations reinforced by the translocation of Slovenian individuals, offer relevant case studies to illustrate this issue. In this thesis, I first focused on the spatial aggregation of depredation events in the French Central Pyrenees using a Getis-Ord test of spatial dependence. This analysis revealed the presence of significant brown bear depredation hotspots and the absence of cold areas. Depredation hotspots are self-correlated over time, which means that a hot spot in one year is likely to exist in subsequent years. At a finer scale, this analysis allowed the identification of inter- and intra-pasture hotspots and a simple method to rescale these results at a larger scale is proposed. Depredation has been identified as being concentrated in hotspots and linked to certain environmental characteristics ("site effect"). The objective was to identify the main landscape factors where domestic herds were most vulnerable to brown bears. The transferability of the results developed in a specific local context was assessed by comparing the Pyrenean and Alpine populations. In both populations, we analyzed brown bear activity, terrain, human infrastructure and habitat variables for the period 2010 - 2017. The results indicated that brown bear activity, grassland proportion, distance from the forest and terrain roughness are strongly associated with the risk of depredation, in similar ways in both study areas. Beyond the effects of the environment, the individual behavior of predators are likely to influence the visible patterns of depredation. The choices made by bears during their movements generate specific habitat use and selection of food items that can contribute to the creation of depredation hotspots. Thus, the characteristics of individuals' movements may be motivated by different activities such as searching for food or a breeding partner. Finally, avoiding and reducing damage from large carnivores can help to improve their conservation status by improving their tolerance by humans. A global overview of human-carnivore conflict situations has been developed to assess the effectiveness of three categories of conflict responses (non-lethal, translocations and lethal). The conclusions of this analysis are as follows: (1) conflict with carnivores is widespread and the main problems are space sharing, predation on livestock and attacks on humans; (2) non-lethal techniques have been assessed as the most effective in reducing conflicts while preserving carnivore populations; (3) conflict management documentation is often imprecise and difficult to compare between studies or situations. The proactive use of non-lethal techniques is therefore recommended to promote coexistence between humans and large carnivores. The tools developed make it possible to mitigate the impacts of conflicts and thus reinforce positive attitudes towards large carnivorous species
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Grelock-Yusem, Susan Michelle. "Wolf Lost & Found| Reframing Human-Wildlife Coexistence with the Arts." Thesis, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2019. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13806376.
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This qualitative research was motivated by the desire to understand how conservation work can engage our psychic connection to the more-than-human. The work used grounded theory and phenomenological methodologies; data was gathered with interviews and arts-based inquiry and analyzed through the lenses of depth psychologically oriented ecopsychology and community psychology. Participants included artists, storytellers, and biologists who have created work about wolves and live in the southern portion of the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor in North America. The research specifically explored what calls artists to create work about wolves, and how their work expresses a sense of interconnection with wolves. The findings suggested that when an artist has a strong sensitivity to the more-than-human, their art-making gives them a channel to express this and supports the development of their individual identity. Additionally, four key themes arose in the dialogues with the artists: embracing a sense of community, providing context, connecting with place, and playing with the Western cultural boundary between humans and other animals. Conservation projects could benefit from these findings by consciously embracing these same ideas in their work using what this research defines as Critical Conservation Communication.” While it is impossible to prove that art directly contributes to conservation goals, this work proposes that art can remind us of our connection to other animals and the life beyond human-constructed reality. This imaginal reconstruction of an ecological orientation can be an ally to conservation goals in Western culture.
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Gibrand, Sara. "Human-Lion Territory : Negotiating Territorial Borders." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Arkitekthögskolan vid Umeå universitet, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-148587.
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This thesis explores the interaction between natural and urban life through mutual recognition, viewing the clash of territorial borders as dynamic conditions rather than exclusion zones. Gir area in India has been investigated as a unique case where humans and lions for centuries have lived together and established a mutual respect. Rasulpara village is used as a local situation to analyze the relationship between humans and animals with the intention to understand how such relationship can be maintained. It has led to the recognition of the in-between as intermediate zones mediating exchange between the two systems. With humans relating to settled form as territorial constrains, the language of architecture becomes a messenger of a respect playing with a time-based system; mediating the balance between safe and unsafe. Learning from the existing relationship of mutual understanding aims to extract lessons for how to intervene in the context and other mediation areas between human and wild. Exploring these attributes through design has shown that built form can act as solid borders to classify and preclude, but also to invite cohabitation by respecting means of existence. Territorial conflicts can then be dealt with more sensitively, thus obtaining the equilibrium within a changing world anchored in traditional knowledge.
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Omondi, Paul. "Wildlife-human conflict in Kenya : integrating wildlife conservation with human needs in the Masai Mara Region." Thesis, McGill University, 1994. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=28878.
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Masai Mara, a large nature reserve in south-western Kenya, was created in the midst of semi-arid agropastoralist rangelands to protect wildlife. Wildlife and indigenous people co-existed for many years, usually with limited conflict; but in recent years, the conflict has intensified, mainly due to increasing human population, changing land use patterns, and altered perceptions of wildlife. This study examines the causes and nature of wildlife-human conflict in the Masai rangelands of Kenya, and considers how wildlife conservation and human development needs can best be integrated.Findings indicate that common conflicts are livestock depredation and crop damage, human deaths or injuries, transmission of diseases, and competition for resources. Land surrounding the reserve can be divided into two distinct topographic and agroclimatic regions. The degree of conflict is spatially varied within the region. Upland ranches have high land use potential, high human and livestock population densities, and more development of agriculture. They experience limited conflict with wildlife. Lowland ranches are more arid, have lower human population density and little agriculture, but have high wildlife and livestock population densities and experience a high degree of conflict. These conflicts vary seasonally, and with distance from the protected area.
Perceptions of wildlife and attitudes towards conservation are related to past experience with wildlife. The degree of loss, effectiveness of damage control, fairness of government compensation, and involvement in wildlife tourism affect the degree of tolerance for wildlife conflict. Various socio-economic factors including level of education, knowledge of conservation priorities, and system of land ownership are related to attitudes towards wildlife. As human activity increases in the region, wildlife is more likely to be displaced. Because most animals are migratory, conflict in the land surrounding the reserve puts the viability of animal population in the protected area in question.
A two-phase program for integrating wildlife conservation with human needs is proposed. The first phase involves designation of the region into four zones: Zone A--the protected area, Zone B--the peripheral area, Zone C--multiple use, and Zone D--agriculture. The second phase of the program is the integration of the wildlife conservation with human interests through: community wildlife-damage-control, compensation for loss, sharing of tourism benefits with local people, conservation education, and local participation in wildlife conservation policy. The program provides a framework within which operational decisions can be made, and serves broader natural resource management and community development objectives in the rangelands.
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Fort, Jessica Fort. "Large Carnivore Occupancy and Human-Wildlife Conflict in Panama." OpenSIUC, 2016. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/theses/1889.
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Although Panamá is an important global hotspot for biodiversity, basic information on large carnivore and prey distributions as well as habitat needs is largely unknown. Wildlife studies in Panamá have been limited to populations located in protected areas along the Panamanian Atlantic Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (PAMBC) and have not considered potentially important refuge habitats located outside the PAMBC. Further, research on human attitudes and perceptions associated with large carnivores, such as jaguars (Panthera onca), is limited in Panamá. My study was conducted in 2 disparate study areas: Cerro Hoya National Park (CHNP), an isolated remnant of tropical rainforest habitat 125 km from the PAMBC that straddles the Veraguas and Los Santos provinces on the Azuero Peninsula; and Serranía de Pirre (SP), a comparative study area in the PAMBC located in Darién National Park (DNP). I used remote cameras to investigate patterns of site occupancy and detection probabilities, as affected by habitat and anthropogenic influences, for 3 species of felids (jaguars, pumas [Puma concolor], and ocelots [Leopardus pardalis]) and 2 species of peccaries (white-lipped [Tayassu pecari] and collared [Pecari tajacu]). In addition, I assessed attitudes and perceptions of rural Panamanians about jaguars and the conservation of CHNP and DNP via oral surveys. Site occupancy did not appear to differ between study areas for any felid or peccary, but detection frequencies and detection probabilities of focal species were overall higher in SP than CHNP. For collared peccaries, probability of detection was a function of survey year, study area, and Julian date, and estimated occupancy was higher in CHNP than SP. For ocelots, probability of detection was significantly higher in SP than CHNP when an ocelot was detected in a previous occasion. For pumas, detection increased with Julian date in CHNP but was seasonally unaffected in SP. Puma occupancy was higher closer to river systems. For jaguars, detection probability decreased with Julian date, increased with number of camera days per occasion, and was higher in SP than CHNP. Jaguars were more likely to use habitat at higher elevations in both study areas. White-lipped peccaries were never detected in CHNP, which may indicate their local extirpation in this region of Panamá. Regarding surveys measuring perceptions of rural people, factors such as gender, level of education, land ownership, and number of cattle affected knowledge and attitudes towards jaguars and criticism towards park management. Additionally, there was a higher frequency of human-jaguar conflict in SP than CHNP and coyotes (Canis latrans) were the most commonly reported threat to livestock in CHNP. My research elucidates previously unknown distribution limits of jaguars and coyotes in the Azuero Peninsula, as well as providing evidence for the potential local extirpation of white lipped peccaries in CHNP. I provide wildlife managers with improvements for survey design of future occupancy studies in the Neotropics. Further, my research provides targeted areas to prioritize for future wildlife conservation efforts and mitigation efforts concerning human-jaguar conflict.
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Crespín, Silvio J. "Completing the land-sharing strategy: reaching human-wildlife coexistence through alternative resource management." Tesis, Universidad de Chile, 2018. http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/168714.
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Tesis entregada a la Universidad de Chile en el cumplimiento parcial de los requisitos para optar al grado de Doctor en Ciencias con Mención en Ecología y Biología Evolutiva.The land-sharing strategy implies co-occurrence of human beings and wildlife, which frequently results in loss of life or injury to people, damage to crops and predation of livestock. Consequently, wildlife is persecuted in retaliation. The existence of contrasting interests such as food security through livestock production on the one hand, and the need to protect threatened species on the other, lay the foundations for human-wildlife conflict. After a decade of the introduction of "land-sharing" there is no formal analysis on the role of conflicts in the success of this strategy. This suggests that a review of the state of the art is necessary to identify gaps in the nature of human-wildlife conflicts in the framework of the strategy. To manage these conflicts, we must understand the underlying ecological basis of the predator's response to the choice of crops or livestock instead of their natural prey. The most frequent biological interaction that prevents coexistence is the predation livestock by carnivores and a factor that could explain it is the availability of natural prey. Predators choose the most profitable prey in relation to the cost and energy benefit incurred in the search and handling of prey. Therefore, if natural prey is scarce in relation to livestock, then livestock should be more profitable. Within this framework, I first determined that coexistence between humans and wildlife has not been considered a requirement for the viability of land-sharing/sparing approaches. Second, I determined under what conditions the availability of natural prey decreases livestock predation, the underlying biological impediment of human-carnivore coexistence, by using data from the literature around the globe. I found that wild prey availability increases livestock predation rate, but open vegetation is a more important predictor. Third, I empirically tested availability of wild prey as an explanatory factor of livestock predation through field observations by comparing rates of ovine predation by foxes on fields with varying wild and domestic prey availability. I found that higher occurrences of hare decrease ovine kill rate. Finally, I discuss framing food production landscapes in a social-ecological systems context and suggest viewing manageable variables of conflict resolution as system parameters that define states of coexistence to aid in swifter conflict resolution planning.
Este trabajo fue apoyado por la "Comisión Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología" (número de beca CONICYT 63130184) y por el "Programa de Apoyo a la Investigación" de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad de Chile (PAI-FAC) otorgado a Javier A. Simonetti en el Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas. El apoyo logístico fue otorgado por la Asociación Kauyeken y la Estancia Anita Beatriz.
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Zimmermann, Alexandra. "Jaguars and people : a range-wide review of human-wildlife conflict." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a5287544-710d-461e-8f65-da2c7590188c.
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Conflict with livestock farmers is the most serious threat to the survival of the jaguar (Panthera onca) across its range of 19 countries of the Americas. In this thesis I examine the needs for mitigating human-jaguar conflict at a range-wide scale by: a) reviewing the state of knowledge on the topic, b) modelling the risk of conflict across the range, c) analysing a series of empirical field case studies, and d) proposing appropriate approaches for different levels of conflict. Findings from 43 published studies and 117 expert-described cases show that human-jaguar conflict occurs on large cattle ranches, mixed farms and smallholdings alike. Depletion of prey and poor livestock husbandry are reported as the key reasons for depredation, regardless of ecological, cultural or socio-economic context. Attitudes and tolerance towards jaguars are not necessarily linked to losses, so recent research has focussed on understanding the behaviours of farmers. With 65% of the remaining jaguar range outside of protected areas, effective strategies for coexistence with farmers are essential. By combining geospatial datasets with expert-based information, spatial patterns of human-jaguar conflicts were presented in a predictive model of conflict hotspots. Around 85% of the total jaguar range, 72% of the total Jaguar Conservation Units area and 90% of the Jaguar Corridor area overlap with livestock, and 15% of the jaguar range has risk of conflict. Regions in which jaguars are repeatedly persecuted may become ecological traps and decimate populations. An aggregate study of 17 case studies across seven countries exposed a very large variety of geographic, agronomic and socio-economic contexts. Both within and across case studies there are considerable differences in farmers’ experiences with livestock losses, concerns about depredation, levels of tolerance and attitudes, as well as social norms towards jaguars in each community. No situational factors could be used to predict how farmers perceive jaguars and deal with depredation. The only pattern consistent across case studies was that attitudes towards jaguars are most likely predicted by a factor of perceived loses combined with the social norms of the community. In most scenarios, correctly balanced strategies of improving husbandry combined with behaviour-influencing methods may be the best way forward. To this end, a conceptual model is proposed, which distinguishes three levels of conflict and explains the importance of addressing any underlying history of grievances or incompatibility of values as part of any human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategy.
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Gilleland, Amanda H. "Human-Wildlife Conflict Across Urbanization Gradients: Spatial, Social, and Ecological Factors." Scholar Commons, 2010. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3489.
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As suburban and exurban residential developments continue to multiply in urban areas, they encroach on wildlife habitats leading to increased human-wildlife interactions. The animals involved in direct conflict with homeowners are often relocated or exterminated by the homeowners. Often the homeowners contact state licensed wildlife trappers to eliminate the problem animal. In this study I examined how landscape, ecological, and social factors influence the incidence of human-wildlife conflict of thirty two residential areas in the Tampa, Florida metropolitan area. These residential areas, totaling over 300 km2, are part of the urban development gradient representing a range of urban land use from the urban core to exurban residential areas. This study consisted of four phases. In the first three phases, I investigated which landscape, ecological, and social factors contribute to homeowner conflict with wild animals on their property. In the last phase, I combine the significant factors contributing to human-wildlife conflict from the first three phases to build a more complete model.
A spatial analysis of the locations of human-wildlife conflict events recorded by licensed wildlife trappers showed the most significant development and landscape factors affecting human-wildlife conflict reporting in a residential area were human population density and total area of natural habitat immediately adjacent to the residential area. A survey of the relative abundance of conflict prone animals living near and in remnant patches of habitat in suburban residential areas revealed that greater abundance was not correlated with the reported conflict of that species within that residential area. Species that were social, omnivorous, and had some flexibility in home range size were involved most often in conflict in highly urbanized environments. Species that were less social, and were not omnivorous, were not significantly involved in human-wildlife conflict in highly urbanized residential areas. These species tended to be restricted to intermediately urbanized areas like suburban and exurban residential areas.
Several social factors were also significant contributors to human-wildlife conflict as revealed through personal interviews with suburban homeowners in Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Interviews confirmed that most people have positive attitudes toward wildlife, but some form of conflict was reported by thirty four percent of suburban residents, although only seventeen percent of those perceived it as a problem worth spending money to solve. Analysis of the attitudes of residents who reported having experienced problems associated with wildlife on their property, revealed significant negative correlations with statements of environmental concern and concern for the treatment of animals.
Using all the significant variables from the physical landscape, ecological evaluation, and the human attitude study in the suburbs, I developed a statistical model of human-wildlife conflict across the urbanization gradient. While the model has marginal success in terms of practical application for prediction, it is quite valuable for defining the importance of these variables in relation to conflict with certain types of species across the gradient. This set of papers collectively defines relationships between variables existing in urban, suburban, and exurban residential areas and human-wildlife conflict. These factors should be considered when planning new residential areas to minimize human-wildlife conflict while maximizing the residents’ enjoyment of natural areas and species within the residential area.
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Woolaston, Katie M. "Legal Responses to Human-Wildlife Conflict: Individual Autonomy vs Ecological Vulnerability." Thesis, Griffith University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/392407.
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This thesis employs socio-legal critical analysis to deconstruct the problem of human-wildlife conflict. Biodiversity is in crisis, and a large part of the crisis is the relationship that people have with wildlife. The current species extinction rate is one hundred times higher than it would be without human occupation of the planet. Human-wildlife conflict is a primary contributor to global biodiversity loss because it is a manifestation of the destructive relationship that humans have with wildlife. It is considered that human-wildlife conflict is a cause of biodiversity loss because it usually ends in wildlife being killed, but also because the long term effects of negative interaction with wildlife are detrimental to a conservation ethic in people at the forefront of the conflict. Traditionally, the study of human-wildlife conflict focused on problematising wildlife and managing their behaviour, movements, population size and density, and genetics, combined with measuring the values and attitudes of people towards wildlife so that the most acceptable wildlife management techniques could be employed. By critically analysing the problem of human-wildlife conflict and it’s representations in law and policy, this thesis aims to transform the way in which human-wildlife conflict is viewed and managed.
While many wildlife managers and ecologists are conducting studies on differing human values and attitudes towards wildlife and management practices, and are moving toward interdisciplinary collaboration, the studies are often conducted without an adequate understanding of the philosophy surrounding human relationships with each other, society, and the greater environment. Without an adequate conceptual framework that discusses and theorises the different dimensions of the human side of the conflict, there is little hope of uniting stakeholders and implementing a consistent, cohesive outcome to situations of conflict. A theoretical understanding of the role society and relationships play in the conflict is necessary to formulate an effective model of action that addresses the greater societal influence over human attitudes to wildlife.
This thesis utilises Martha Fineman’s theory of vulnerability, together with social eco-feminism to provide an account of the dynamic natural relationship between humans and wildlife and outline how current management strategies deviate from that dynamic yet natural state. It posits that humans and wildlife have individual and interconnected vulnerabilities that are not accounted for by current management policies. Instead, legal institutions ensure separation through the promotion of false individual liberal autonomy. Furthermore, that autonomy is not universally attributed to all humans. Instead, autonomy is something that is considered relevant to those that already hold the power over the concept itself, are most likely to benefit from it, and are already considered to have it (although as this thesis will demonstrate, no-one can ever be autonomous).
This thesis concludes that legal institutions structurally deny human-wildlife conflict around the world, whilst simultaneously exacerbating conflict by promoting values consistent with individual autonomy. The way to rectify this paradox and return the human-wildlife relationship to its natural state is to promote State responsiveness to the interconnected vulnerabilities of people and wildlife, by shifting institutional focus from autonomy to eco-vulnerability. Methods of achieving this shift include establishing the relevance of non-human vulnerability to the problem of conflict, acknowledging all interconnected oppressions with a conflict scenario, their historical bases and barriers to recovery, implementing community collaboration and some devolution of state decision-making power, increasing positive wildlife experiences and emotional connections, and finally, promoting the leadership of alternate epistemological communities, such as local and indigenous groups.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Law School
Arts, Education and Law
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Latteman, Holly M. "Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) Range Expansion: An Example of Human Wildlife Conflict." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1556813177983405.
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Hartel, Colleen M. "The Role of Wildlife Value Orientations in Framing Interactions with Wildlife Near the Home: A Mixed-methods Analysis of Self-reported Problems with Wildlife." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1525541681974028.
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Acharya, Krishna Prasad [Verfasser], and Michael [Akademischer Betreuer] Köhl. "Conservation conflict in Nepal : An examination of the pattern and ecological dimension of human-wildlife conflict and wildlife conservation / Krishna Prasad Acharya ; Betreuer: Michael Köhl." Hamburg : Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg, 2018. http://d-nb.info/1169358446/34.
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Hemson, Graham A. "The ecology of conservation of lions : human wildlife conflict in semi-arid Botswana." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.404163.
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Avomo, Ndong Sandy Steven. "Human-wildlife Conflict and Ecotourism : Comparing Pongara and Ivindo National Parks in Gabon." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/23139.
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Human-wildlife conflicts around protected areas are important issues affecting conservation, especially in Africa. In Gabon, this conflict revolves around crop-raiding by protected wildlife, especially elephants. Elephants’ crop-raiding threaten livelihoods and undermines conservation efforts. Gabon is currently using monetary compensation and electric fences to address this human-elephant conflict. This thesis compares the impacts of the human-elephant conflict in Pongara and Ivindo National Parks based on their idiosyncrasy. Information was gathered through systematic review of available literature and publications, observation, and semi-structured face to face interviews with local residents, park employees, and experts from the National Park Agency. This thesis argues that the impacts of human-elephant conflict are more severe in Ivindo compared to Pongara National Park due to their specific characteristics. To effectively address this human-elephant conflict, an adaptive management strategy is needed. This adaptive management strategy should integrate conservation, livelihood security, and combine to the specific characteristics of each park.
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Hjert, Carl-Johan. "People vs. Wildlife : Buffer zones to integrate wildlife conservation and development?" Thesis, Södertörn University College, School of Life Sciences, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-728.
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Tanzania is famous for it’s beautiful nature and rich wildlife. Proud of it’s natural heritage, Tanzania has dedicated over 20% of it’s territory as protected areas to shield the wildlife from human interference. But the wildlife is regarded as a menace by the local communities that lives close to the impressive national parks. At the same time, the increasing human population threatens the survival of the large migratory species in the parks by blocking vital dispersal areas.
This essay describes the human/wildlife conflict around Tarangire National Park and focuses on communities close to park borders. The intention is to examine if a buffer zone could solve the conflict in this area. By studying the political ecology of wildlife conservation in Tanzania, from local to global scale and through a historical perspective, it is concluded that the poor state-society relation as experienced in local communities is a crucial factor for the diminishing wildlife.
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Musyoki, Mutua Charles. "Human-wildlife conflict in Kenya : crop raiding by elephants and other wildlife in Mahiga 'B' village of Nyeri district." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/137063.
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Kyoto University (京都大学)0048
新制・課程博士
博士(地域研究)
甲第13195号
地博第45号
新制||地||15(附属図書館)
UT51-2007-H468
京都大学大学院アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科アフリカ地域研究専攻
(主査)教授 太田 至, 助教授 重田 眞義, 助教授 山越 言, 助教授 西崎 伸子
学位規則第4条第1項該当
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Hiser, Karen Louise. "Crop raiding and conflict : farmers' perceptions of human-wildlife interactions in Hoima district, Uganda." Thesis, Oxford Brookes University, 2012. https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/items/428ab6a2-fad5-4301-8bb5-0320a0506d82/1/.
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Conflict between humans and crop raiding wildlife is a growing problem, particularly in tropical, unmechanised farming communities where increased competition for resources intensifies the likelihood of human-wildlife interactions. However, conflict can arise as much from perceptions of risk as actual damage, and perceived and actual degrees of risk do not always match. Hoima District in Uganda reportedly has a long-standing issue of crop raiding. Forest fragments in northern Hoima District support chimpanzees and other primates, and are surrounded by a mosaic of farms. During this study crop damage was monitored in farms next to four forest fragments each week for one year (November 2006 to November 2007), and farmers’ attitudes to crop raiding were explored through interviews and focus groups. Most farms lost less than 1% of their crops, and more than half of farms did not experience crop damage by large vertebrates (primates, porcupine, bush pig and civet). Cattle were responsible for over one third of the total area of damage; more than all other large vertebrates combined. Whilst local people do not consider crop raiding by wildlife to be as severe a risk to crops as disease and weather, conflict with wild animals does exist. Farmers’ attitudes appear less influenced by the area of crop damaged than by the frequency of damage events (real or perceived) and by factors external to crop loss: i) ability to control loss and impacts of loss, ii) a fear of personal safety, iii) labour requirements of managing crops. That farmers’ opinions of crop raiding animals appear to be shaped more by these external factors than by actual levels of crop loss is a likely consequence of the low level of damage present in the study sites. This research illustrates that perceptions of conflict between humans and crop raiding animals should always be examined in tandem with actual losses, and that conflict may persist in areas where little loss occurs. Employment of amelioration techniques must therefore be selected with care, as inappropriate use of these tools risks focusing farmers’ frustrations onto crop raiding activities and exacerbating conditions.
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Laver, Peter Norman. "The foraging ecology of banded mongooses (Mungos mungo): Epidemiological and human-wildlife conflict implications." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/50973.
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Free-ranging banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) in northeastern Botswana are infected by a novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex pathogen, M. mungi, which putatively infects mongooses through lesions in the skin (often the planum nasale) from an environmental reservoir. To understand the epidemiology of the yearly and highly seasonal outbreaks of M. mungi in this population of banded mongooses, researchers need to understand what factors influence banded mongoose exposure to M. mungi and banded mongoose susceptibility to M. mungi infection. Researchers have no baseline data on the behavioral ecology of this population of banded mongooses - such as home range dynamics, denning ecology, movement ecology, and foraging ecology, all of which may play a role in banded mongoose exposure to M. mungi. Further, researchers have highlighted the potential role of prolonged elevations of glucocorticoids in impairing cell-mediated immunity, which would play a significant role in determining susceptibility to a mycobacterium such as M. mungi, however, researchers have no data on the endocrinology of banded mongooses. Finally, researchers have not detected M. mungi infection in any other population of banded mongooses. Our study population has a gradient of troops (social groups) that vary from troops with extremely close association with humans in a town, to troops associated with humans at tourist lodges within the Chobe National Park, to troops with no discernible association with humans within the national park and surrounding forest reserve. Researchers have few data on how synanthropy (living with humans) affects banded mongoose behavioral ecology and no data on how synanthropy affects banded mongoose endocrinology. Researchers do not know whether or how the high level of synanthropy in this population of banded mongooses plays a role in the epidemiology of M. mungi outbreaks.
Thus, we document here some aspects of banded mongoose home range dynamics, movement metrics, denning ecology and foraging behavior for our study population in northeastern Botswana. We present a novel method for screening data from global positioning system (GPS) collars for large measurement error and we present a detailed home range study. We also document the spatio-temporal dynamics of glucocorticoid production among several banded mongoose study troops across our study site, using a non-invasive assay for fecal glucocorticoid metabolites, which we validated and also present here. We tested to see which factors, including nutritional limitation, predation risk, and reproduction (and associated competition, agonistic encounters, and predation), best explained the variation in glucocorticoid production among our study troops over several years.
We found that the metrics traditionally used to screen data from GPS collars, horizontal dilution of precision (HDOP) or fix dimension (2-D or 3-D), performed poorly relative to a new screening metric that we propose, the estimated elevation error (EEE). We propose that researchers use our screening method, which combines test data and a model-averaging information-theoretic framework that uses a priori candidate models of telemetry measurement error. Although we recommend including EEE in a priori candidate models, it may not describe telemetry error in other systems as well as it did in our own.
Banded mongooses in our study population formed troops of a median of 13 adults (IQR: 11 to 21 adults) and these troops used home ranges of a median of 68 ha (IQR: 39 to 134 ha) with core areas of a median of 15 ha (IQR: 9 to 28 ha). These cores (statistically-clumped space use) occurred at a median volume contour of 66 % (IQR: 58 to 71 %). Synanthropic troops showed more clumped area use than apoanthropic troops (those living away from humans). Synanthropic troops also used man-made structures for den sites in SI{81}{percent} of nights, fed from refuse sites in 13 % of foraging observations, and drank from anthropogenic water sources in 78 % of drinking observations.
From our conducted adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge, we detected valid increases in fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in mongoose feces using our four tested enzyme-immunoassays. An 11-oxoetiocholanolone assay detecting 11,17-dioxoandrostanes (11,17-DOA) performed best. Using this assay, we detected expected decreases in fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations 48 h after administering dexamethasone sodium phosphate. We also validated this assay using biological events as challenges, in which captive mongooses showed higher fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations during reproductive activity, agonistic encounters, and depredation events. The time delay of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite excretion approximately corresponded with food transit time, at a minimum of approximately 24 h. Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite metabolism was minimal up to 8 h post-defecation.
Reproduction and its associated challenges dramatically increased glucocorticoid production, which otherwise remained low and stable in a captive troop with a constant food supply and lowered predation risk. Variation in glucocorticoid production in free-ranging banded mongooses was best explained by food limitation as described by current nutritional limitation (proportion of fecal organic matter), recent rainfall (which increases soil macrofauna availability), and access to concentrated anthropogenic food resources. Habitat differences in soil macrofauna density and reproductive events also explained variation in glucocorticoid production in free-ranging mongooses, but to a much lower degree. Predation risk, as measured by canopy cover (escape from aerial predators) and group size (decreased per capita vigilance) explained very little of the variation in glucocorticoid production. In the late dry season, banded mongooses in our population may face a ``perfect storm\'\' of nutritional limitation, agonistic encounters at concentrated food resources, aggressive evictions, estrus, competition for mates, parturition, and predation pressure on pups. We suspect that this prefect storm may push glucocorticoid responses into homeostatic overload and may impair cell-mediated immunity in banded mongooses.
Ph. D.
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Goodyear, Sarah Elizabeth. "Habituation to Auditory Stimuli by Captive African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana)." TopSCHOLAR®, 2015. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1481.
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Elephants are cognitive species that exhibit many types of learning. Associative, social, and insight learning have been investigated with elephants, but one of the simplest forms, habituation, has not. As an individual learns that a stimulus is neither harmful nor beneficial, it will decrease its response to the stimulus through the process of habituation. Elephants possess a well-developed sensory system and may habituate to stimuli that could be used for enrichment and/or management. The aim of this study was to examine the habituation process of elephants in response to repeated presentations of two auditory stimuli –buzzing by a disturbed beehive and the sound of banging on pots and pans, as these sounds invoke alert and avoidance behaviors in wild elephants as part of humanelephant conflict mitigation. I hypothesized that elephants would initially exhibit strong reactions to both sounds, but these responses would diminish over repeated trials. I also hypothesized that their responses to the bee sound would decrease more slowly than to the pot/pans sound because bee buzzing represents a biological cue that a threat is nearby. This study was conducted using four female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) at the Nashville Zoo. Elephants received each stimulus for a 10-day period. On the first sound presentation, the elephants reacted by exhibiting distress, avoidance, and vigilance behaviors. Over repeated presentations, the elephants stopped responding to the stimuli, suggesting habituation had occurred. They also seemed to generalize their habituation between the first and second sound, resulting in a faster habituation to the second sound. Although a preliminary study, the results suggest that elephants learn which stimuli are non-threatening and subsequently stop responding to them, most likely through habituation. Specifically, the elephants habituated to bee buzzing and banging pots and pans, two deterrents used to stop elephants from entering farmlands and eating crops. Habituation is a major concern for the development of effective human-wildlife conflict mitigation and zoo enrichment programs. The results from this study indicate that habituation is an important learning process that should be considered during the implementation of captive and wildlife management, even for highly intelligent species such as elephants.
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Egan, Conor Christopher. "Evaluating the Potential Utility of Drones to Deter Birds from Areas of Human-Wildlife Conflict." Thesis, North Dakota State University, 2018. https://hdl.handle.net/10365/29171.
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Predator-prey dynamics shaped the evolution of morphological and behavioral adaptations that foraging animals use to detect and avoid predators. Wildlife managers can potentially exploit antipredator behavior when attempting to deter animals from areas of human-wildlife conflict. A promising new tool in the field of wildlife damage management is the unmanned aircraft system (UAS; or drone), which might be able to overcome the mobility limitations of other deterrent strategies. The main objective of my study was to determine the behavioral response of blackbirds (Icteridae) to three drones, using a predator model, a standard fixed-wing, and a multirotor as candidate platforms. I evaluated the behavioral response of individual, captive red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to the three drones approaching at direct and overhead trajectories, and I evaluated their efficacy on eliciting escape and resource-abandonment behavior in free-ranging blackbird flocks.North Dakota State University. Environmental and Conservation Sciences program
North Dakota State University. Department of Biological Sciences
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
Wildlife Services (WS)
National Wildlife Research Center (#7438-0020-CA; QA-2731)
Federal Aviation Administration (via Interagency Agreement DTFACT-14-X-400007)
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Lindsey, Kieran J. "Privatization and regulatory oversight of commercial wildlife control activities in the United States." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1638.
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Welden, Robert Foster. "Framing Human-Wildlife Conflict in the Intermountain West| Content Analysis of Daily Newspapers to Diverse Audiences." Thesis, Colorado State University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10635671.
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Connection to and appreciate for the natural world are directly linked to positive experiences participating in outdoor nature-based activities. These direct experiences have been declining over the past decade, causing concerns about the perceptions of nature by populations that don’t participate in nature-based activities. This study examines framing of media coverage about human-wildlife conflicts and its implications for perception building by those audiences with less experience in the natural world. Data were collected via daily newspapers across the Intermountain West from 2010 to 2015. Results demonstrated that there were significant differences between newspapers serving larger, more urban communities and smaller, more rural communities. Findings indicate that urban audiences are exposed to messages that discourage participation in the natural world. Messages regarding human-wildlife conflict in newspapers serving larger, more urban communities should be reframed to avoid negative perceptions of nature and to motivate connection to the natural world.
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Blair, Alec. "Human-wildlife conflict in Laikipia North, Kenya: comparing official reports with the experiences of Maasai pastoralists." Thesis, McGill University, 2009. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=32371.
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The support of local communities has become accepted as critical for success in wildlife conservation, particularly in developing areas such as Kenya. Human-wildlife conflict is a major cost to people living amongst wildlife, and a threat to support for conservation. This research focused on conflict experienced by Maasai pastoralists in Laikipia, Kenya, an area of conservation importance and the site of many community conservation initiatives. It was found that the levels of conflict experienced by the communities were much higher than suggested by official reports from the Kenya Wildlife Service. Livestock depredation, mainly by hyenas, was identified as particularly underrepresented. These inaccuracies in the official reports are likely to lead to complications in conservation planning, and should be addressed in order to ensure that the benefits of conservation are going to be sufficient to outweigh the costs of conflict, and satisfy the expectations of local people.L'appui des communautés locales est considéré comme essentiel pour le succès des projets de conservation de faune, en particulier dans des régions en voie de développements tels que le Kenya. Le conflit humain-faune a un coût important pour les personnes vivant parmi la faune, et il est une menace de la conservation. Cette recherche s'est concentrée sur le conflit éprouvé par les pastoralists de Maasai Laikipia, au Kenya, une région d'haute valeur à la conservation et l'emplacement de beaucoup d'initiatives communautaire de conservation. Cette étude conclue que les niveaux du conflit éprouvés par ces communautés étaient beaucoup plus élevés que suggérés par les rapports officiels du Kenya Wildlife Service. La déprédation de bétail, principalement par des hyènes, est identifiée comme particulièrement sous représenté. Ces inexactitudes peuvent mener aux complications dans la planification de projet de conservation. Elles devraient être adressées afin de s'assurer que les avantages de la conservation sont supérieurs aux coûts du conflit, et satisfont les espérances des personnes locales.
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Lewis, Ashley Lauren. "Human-wildlife conflict and mobile phone use among Maasai pastoralists near Tarangire National Park, northern Tanzania." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/73792.
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Mobile phones are transforming many aspects of rural areas in the developing world. Much of the early research on phones and related information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries has focused on social networking and economic benefits in primarily urban or agricultural settings. Few studies, however, have examined the implications of mobile technologies on pastoralist livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. To build on this opportunity, this study examines the impact of mobile phone technology on four Maasai communities near Tarangire National Park in northern Tanzania. I asked the questions: (1) How do phones affect human-wildlife interactions?; and (2) What are the effects of mobile phone use on measures of human-wildlife conflict (HWC)? This research uses a mixed methods approach to address these two questions and test the hypothesis that mobile phone use reduces HWC. Qualitative group interviews revealed that households use phones to manage wildlife interactions in every aspect of their lives - especially when the interactions relate to pastoralism and crop-based agriculture. Maasai use mobile phones as tools of information distribution to mitigate and reduce the severity of effects of HWC. Multivariate analyses of survey measures of phone use and exposure to conflict (i.e., crop and livestock predation and human attacks) offer mixed evidence that mobile phone use is correlated with a perception of less recent HWC events. These findings provide an indication that the expansion of mobile digital technologies may be able to support livelihoods and biodiversity simultaneously.Master of Science
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Wallace, Graham Edward. "Monkeys in maize : Primate crop-raiding behaviour and developing on-farm techniques to mitigate human-wildlife conflict." Thesis, Oxford Brookes University, 2010. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.532035.
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Understanding and addressing conflict between subsistence farmers and wildlife due to crop-raiding is an increasingly crucial conservation issue. Raiding often compromises local food security, reduces tolerance of wildlife, and undermines management efforts. Although many primates consume crops regularly, there are very few quantitative accounts of on-farm primate behaviour or techniques to deter primates from raiding. Working in partnership with farmers, this study was conducted over two primary crop-growing seasons in six villages adjacent to Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda. Using systematic observational sampling techniques, interviews, and focus groups, the research examined the behaviour of farmers, primates, and other wildlife at farm-forest interfaces to understand the dynamics and parameters of crop-raiding. This information was then used to develop and evaluate a series of effective and locally-appropriate deterrents to raiding. Primates were the predominant diurnal raiders while bush pigs were the mam raiders at night. Six species of primate were observed to raid. Rates of raiding were directly aligned with the availability and maturation of crops, with maize and beans being raided most frequently. Patterns of raiding varied spatially and temporally, and raiding behaviour differed across species. Raiding-group size, duration of raid, and distance travelled onto farm determined crop loss during raiding events. Although crop losses were relatively small they were costly for farmers. Farmers did not detect crop-raiding completely and may underestimate raiding activity. Farmers used a wide range of responses to raids, typically In combination. Deterrents implemented at study farms included alarm systems to improve early detection of wildlife, barriers (nets or fences) and border crops, natural repellents, systematic guarding, and alternative crop locations. Farmers identified benefits and shortcomings for each deterrent, and considered most to be effective and valuable. Insights from. the research may be used to inform intervention strategies to address raiding issues and extend options to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. Recommendations for further research are provided.
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Hansen, Oliver Kai. "Can cormorants be used as indicators of local fish abundances? : A diet study of cormorants on Gotland." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för biologisk grundutbildning, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-447637.
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Human wildlife conflicts can represent missed opportunities for ecological monitoring, including tracking invasive species. The great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis is the centre such a conflict, where the lack of concrete scientific evidence is often replaced by anecdotal evidence, leading to the vilification of these birds. The primary aim of this study was to assess the extent of the overlap between cormorant diet and the fish the fishermen are allowed to catch on the North West coast of Gotland, the Baltic seas´ biggest island. To assess cormorant diet, the otoliths in the cormorant pellets were analysed. Secondary aims included assessing the potential to use cormorant diet as a proxy for local fish abundances by comparing it to monitoring fisheries in the same area. Highly contentious species only included cod, herring and flounder, none of which were commonly consumed by cormorants. Cormorants and the monitoring fisheries found comparable proportions of all species except for flatfish herring sprat, sculpin. We conclude that the cormorant poses a relatively low risk to the fishing industry on the North Western coast of Gotland and that they could potentially be used as a sentinel for local fish abundances, including tracking invasive species such as the round goby.
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Harris, Hannah B. "THE RETURN OF THE BLACK BEAR TO EASTERN KENTUCKY: CONFLICT AND TOLERANCE BETWEEN PEOPLE AND WILDLIFE." UKnowledge, 2011. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/830.
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The black bear (Ursus americanus) has returned to Kentucky and is now part of a reproducing population in the southeastern Cumberland Mountain region. The broad objective of this project was to examine the interactions between people and bears, with the ultimate goal of improving bear management in a way that addresses stakeholder concerns. Using interviews of regional stakeholders, participant observation, and media reports collected between summer 2003 and fall 2006, I investigated how the presence of black bears in Harlan and Letcher counties in Kentucky has had an impact on area residents. I complemented this information with observations of bear behavior and an analysis of bear capture and handling data collected within the study period. Artificial provisioning of bears was widespread and >60% of black bears captured were confirmed to use anthropogenic foods at least some of the time. I found a significant difference (P<0.0001) in the apparent physical condition of confirmed anthropogenic feeding bears and bears whose feeding behavior was unknown, and similar differences in physical condition between bears captured along traplines in Harlan and Letcher counties when compared to bears captured along traplines in Bell County (P<0.01). Mean litter size was 3.25 ± 0.11 (SE), significantly above average for eastern North America (P<0.05) although cub survival remains unknown. All documented mortality of adult bears was human-caused. Anthropogenic food sources may affect bear behavior, survival, reproduction, and physiology, as well as bring bears into close contact with humans. Artificial provisioning is currently an important part of bear-human interaction in eastern Kentucky, both facilitating bear tourism as well as precipitating nuisance problems. Cessation of provisioning could have important consequences for the developing tourism industry in the region and for the bears themselves. Both the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and many local people have an interest in conserving bears, but problems have arisen due to differing conceptions of appropriate or desirable management. A better understanding of the human dynamics and cooperation taking place in this situation could provide much-needed information both in Kentucky and in other localities where stakeholders are debating how to co-exist with wildlife.
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Klein, Rebecca Ann. "An assessment of human carnivore conflict in the Kalahari region of Botswana." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013132.
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Human wildlife conflict is a considerable conservation challenge that threatens many carnivore species worldwide and is a result of complex socio-economic and ecological processes. An understanding of the drivers of conflict is essential for any efforts to achieve coexistence. This study investigated the levels of conflict, livestock management and tolerance amongst the farming communities of the Southern and Western Kalahari in Botswana. A questionnaire survey was completed with 310 farmers throughout the region. The majority of respondents regarded coexisting with carnivores as a challenge, with losses due to depredation perceived as the greatest problem facing farmers. Conflict was widespread throughout the study area, with some spatial variations for certain species. Cattle management levels were low and while smallstock management was better, the use of improved levels of management could reduce current levels of conflict. Tolerance levels were generally low with few respondents seeing the benefits of coexistence with carnivore species. The results indicated that farm type, gender, education level, source of income, livestock numbers, location and land use all have an effect on perceived conflict and tolerance levels and strongly interact with each other. In general cattleposts were characterised by higher proportions of females, lower education levels, more benefits derived from wildlife and veld products and fewer livestock than fenced ranches. They also experienced more conflict, carried out more management and had better tolerance levels. It could be that closer connections to the land and deriving benefits from natural resources resulted in more tolerance and this is certainly worth further investigation. An improvement in the use of effective methods of livestock management, targeted environmental education programs to develop a greater awareness for the conservation value of carnivores and a diversification of livelihoods to include benefits from natural resources have the potential to reduce conflict and improve tolerance in the Kalahari region.
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Bhattarai, Babu. "Conflict and conservation : sharing the costs and benefits of tiger (Panthera tigris) conservation in communities adjacent to tiger reserves in Nepal." Thesis, Federation University Australia, 2020. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/174057.
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Human wildlife conflict (HWC) is a highly studied but unresolved aspect of wildlife management. To further knowledge on HWC, this study used a multidisciplinary approach to investigate HWC implications for local people living adjacent to two key tiger conservation reserves in Nepal. The study also assessed the potential to redistribute financial benefits accruing from predator conservation to those bearing costs through associated HWC. Secondary data and anecdotal reports suggest that local people experience significant direct and indirect costs from predator conservation through livestock losses following attacks by common leopards and Bengal tigers, and additionally, crop losses due to their prey species plus two mega herbivores (elephant and one-horned rhinoceros). To investigate this situation, data regarding HWC incidents and costs were sourced through interviews with 422 local households, direct observations, and stakeholder interviews. Collected data included livestock loss (5-year time-period) and crop loss (1-year time-period). Complementary direct observation data collated livestock loss and crop damage for 12 months. Interviews were conducted also with park visitors (N=387) and tourism business owners (N=74). Results showed that tigers are involved in significantly fewer depredation events compared to leopards. Leopards predominantly killed small to medium livestock whereas tigers selected both small to medium and large sized livestock. Livestock depredation events occurred more frequently in livestock corrals relative to forest zones or crop fields. Rates of livestock losses per household per year self-reported during interviews with local people were found higher when compared to those observed by direct measurement. Prey species of tigers and leopards (most often wild boar and chital) were involved in more frequently in crop raiding events, and caused more crop damage, when compared that caused by mega herbivores. Quantities of crops lost per household were lowest in communities where effective physical barriers to wildlife were present. Park visitors and tourism business owners indicated willingness to pay for conservation of tigers and for compensation of farmers for the losses caused by tigers and their prey species. Study findings support several key recommendations proposed to mitigate negative HWC effects in the study area. These include financial support for local communities to build predator proof livestock corrals and establishment of effective physical barriers at the park borders. A dedicated tariff for park visitors and a levy for tourism business owners are also recommended to fund ongoing predator conservation and support financial compensation for local farmers affected by HWC.Doctor of Philosophy
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Signor, Kari D. "Investigating Methods to Reduce Black Bear (Ursus americanus) Visitation to Anthropogenic Food Sources: Conditioned Taste Aversion and Food Removal." DigitalCommons@USU, 2009. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/547.
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Conflicts between humans and black bears (Ursus americanus) jeopardize the safety of both humans and bears, especially when bears become food-conditioned to anthropogenic food sources in areas such as campgrounds. Interest in using non-lethal techniques, such as aversive conditioning, to manage such conflicts is growing. I conducted a captive experiment at The Wildlife Science Center in Minnesota and two field experiments in the La Sal Mountains, Utah, to investigate the effects of taste aversion conditioning using thiabendazole (TBZ) with a novel flavor cue and food removal on black bear food consumption and visitation to human food sources. In 2007, I conducted food trials with 6 captive black bears (3 control, 3 treatment). Controls received 1 kg baked goods scented with a peppermint-canola oil mixture and treatments received 1 kg baked goods also scented with a peppermint-canola oil mixture but mixed with 10-20 g TBZ. In the 2007 field experiment, I baited 24 field sites with 300 g of baked goods during a baseline phase for approximately 3 weeks. Half of these sites were then treated with 10 g of TBZ and camphor during a treatment phase for 4 weeks. In 2008, I baited 22 sites with 300 g of baked goods during a baseline phase for approximately 4 weeks. I then removed food and discontinued baiting at half of the sites for 4 weeks. Infrared cameras and barbed-wire hair snags were established at field sites to document bear visitation. I did not establish taste aversion in treated bears in captivity and bears fully consumed food in the majority of trials. Treating food supplies with 10 g TBZ and camphor flavor did not significantly reduce bear visitation (P = 0.615) or food consumption at field sites (P = 0.58). However, I observed a significant reduction in bear activity at sites where food was removed (P = 0.006). Potential reasons for my failure to reduce bear visitation using thiabendazole include insufficient conditioning, reluctance of bears to desist in investigating sites that previously contained untreated food, and masking of a treatment effect due to continued encounters of sites by new individuals.
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Faulkner, Sally. "Integrating GIS approaches with geographic profiling as a novel conservation tool." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2018. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/46763.
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Geographic profiling (GP) was originally developed to solve the problem of information overload when dealing with cases of serial crime. In criminology, the model uses spatial data relating to the locations of connected crimes to prioritise the search for the criminal's anchor point (usually a home or workplace), and is extremely successful in this field. Previous work has shown how the same approach can be adapted to biological data, but to date the model has assumed a spatially homogenous landscape, and has made no attempt to integrate more complex spatial information (eg, altitude, land use). It is this issue that I address here. In addition, I show for the first time how the model can be applied to conservation data and - taking the model back to its origins in criminology - to wildlife crime. In Chapter 2, I use the Dirichlet Process Mixture (DPM) model of geographic profiling to locate sleep trees for tarsiers in dense jungle in Indonesia, using as input the locations at which calls were recorded, demonstrating how the model can be applied to locating the nests, dens or roosts of other elusive animals and potentially improving estimates of population size, with important implications for management of both species and habitats. In Chapter 3, I show how spatial information in the form of citizen science could be used to improve a study of invasive mink in the Hebrides. In Chapter 4, I turn to the issue of 'commuter crime' in a study of poaching in Savé Valley Conservancy (SVC) in Zimbabwe, in which although poaching occurs inside SVC the majority of poachers live outside, showing how the model can be adjusted to reflect a simple binary classification of the landscape (inside or outside SVC). Finally, in Chapter 5, I combine more complex land use information (estimates of farm density) with the GP model to improve predictions of human-wildlife conflict.
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Osorio, Popiolek Christian Thomaz. "Wild carnivore habitat use and community ecology in a biodiversity hotspot and human-wildlife conflict with pumas and dogs across Chile." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/103440.
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Habitat loss and fragmentation and human-wildlife conflicts, often resulting in retaliatory killing in response to livestock predation, are one of the main threats to wild felids worldwide, including pumas (Puma concolor). However, mesocarnivores are more abundant than large carnivores, live closer to human settlements, and drive community structure and processes in similar or different ways from large predators. Understanding both large and small carnivores' habitat use is key to their conservation and management. Thus, there is need to explore the ecological roles of predators (including invasive ones like free-ranging dogs [Canis lupus familiaris] and cats [Felis catus]) to examine how ecological context modulates the ecological roles of carnivores . This is especially important in my study area, which was severely burned by a catastrophic mega-wildfire in 2017.
I used dynamic occupancy modeling of human-wildlife conflict (HWC) across 52 provinces for 8 years in Chile and found that free-ranging dogs outpace pumas in livestock depredation, killing substantially more livestock than pumas. Occupancy models show that HWC occurrence for both dogs and pumas increased with sheep density. Unexpectedly, dog HWC decreased with anthropogenic habitat degradation indicating that dogs may travel far to prey on livestock. The emergence of puma HWC in a site where it did not occur in the previous year was positively associated with anthropic disturbance. Countrywide, dogs HWC occurrence probability was higher than pumas in 43 out of the 49 provinces where both species occurred. I discuss livestock vulnerability, management strategies, and policy to mitigate HWC, and also highlight threats that free-ranging dogs pose to biodiversity conservation and even human public health.
I also used single-species, single-season occupancy models fit to camera-trap data to investigate the patterns of site occupancy and response to mega-wildfires of native mesocarnivores in southern-central Chile: guignas (Leopardus guigna), culpeo foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus) and chilla foxes (Lycalopex griseus). I found that vulnerable guignas avoided burned sites, preferring sites with native, dense vegetation while culpeo foxes were intermediate in being able to use plantations, but avoiding burned sites. Chilla foxes were most tolerant to landscape change with no response to burns and were found closer to human habitation and rivers.
Finally, I used two-species, single season occupancy models, and Kernel Density Estimation on circular data, to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics, and overlap of native and exotic carnivores. I found that feral cats are a potential threat to pumas, guignas, and native foxes given they overlap extensively in time of activity with these species. Also, feral dogs had the widest distribution of all species indicating that their effects could be ubiquitous on the landscape. Thus, exotic species are damaging to wildlife, to livestock industry, and even to public health. I urge dialog between government authorities, wildlife managers, and scientists to generate a legal and public policy framework to properly managing habitat and HWC in southern-central Chile.Doctor of Philosophy
Landscape transformation and human-wildlife conflict (HWC), which often result in retaliatory killing of wildlife in response to livestock predation, is one of the main global threats to wild cats, including pumas (Puma concolor). Medium-sized carnivores (mesocarnivores or mesopredators) are more abundant than large carnivores, live closer to human settlements and, like large predators, impact ecosystem structure and function significantly. Understanding habitat use of these carnivores is key to their conservation and management and to biodiversity preservation. Thus, there is need to investigate the ecological roles of carnivores (including invasive ones like free-ranging dogs and cats) to determine how interactions with other carnivore species and with the physical environment influence ecological roles of such species. This is especially important in my study area, which was severely burned by a catastrophic mega-wildfire in 2017, and for which there is scant information on wildlife responses to the mega-fire. I determined the distribution and causes of HWC across 52 provinces for 8 years in Chile and found that free-ranging dogs accounted for higher livestock depredation than pumas, killing substantially more livestock. Occurrence of HWC for both dogs and pumas increased with the sheep density of the province. Unexpectedly, dog HWC increased in less degraded habitats, indicating that dogs may travel far to prey on livestock in remote areas. The emergence of puma HWC in a site where it did not occur in the previous year increased with human-caused disturbance. Countrywide, dog HWC was higher than pumas in 43 out of the 49 provinces where both pumas and dogs occurred. I discuss livestock vulnerability, management strategies, and policy changes to address HWC, and discuss the threats that free-ranging dogs pose to biodiversity conservation and even to human public health. I also used remotely-triggered, camera-trap records to explore distribution of three mesocarnivores (guignas, culpeo foxes and chilla foxes across the landscapeand in response to mega-wildfires in southern-central Chile. I found that guignas, a small and vulnerable wild cat, avoided burned sites, preferring sites with native, dense vegetation while culpeo foxes were intermediate in being able to use plantations, but avoiding burned areas. Chilla foxes were most tolerant to landscape change with no response to burns, and they were found closer to human settlements and rivers. Finally, I examined overlap in space and time of day between native species pairs and native and exotic species pairs. I found that dogs were the most widely distributed species across the landscape, but were mostly diurnal while native species were primarily nocturnal. Cats however had high temporal overlap with guinas and chilla foxes, highlighting the potential for competition between them.. Thus, exotic species are damaging to wildlife, livetock and even huan health. I discuss the management implications and urge dialog between government authorities, wildlife managers, and scientists to generate a legal and public policy framework to properly managing habitat and HWC in southern-central Chile.
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Findlay, Leah Jayne. "Human-primate conflict : an interdisciplinary evaluation of wildlife crop raiding on commercial crop farms in Limpopo Province, South Africa." Thesis, Durham University, 2016. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11872/.
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Understanding and addressing conflict between farmers and wildlife due to crop raiding is of increasing conservation concern. Raiding impacts farmers’ livelihoods, reduces tolerance to wildlife and often results in lethal methods of retaliation. Although crop raiding occurs on commercial as well as subsistence farms, there are very few quantitative accounts of on-farm primate behaviour or techniques to deter primates from raiding commercial farms. Working in partnership with commercial crop farmers, this study was conducted in Blouberg Municipality, South Africa. Using systematic behavioural observations, camera trapping techniques, vegetation transects, interviews and a workshop, this research adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examine farmers’ perceptions of nature, behaviour of primates, and crop damage by other wildlife to understand the nature and extent of crop raiding. This information was used to develop and evaluate effective and locally appropriate deterrents to wildlife crop raiding. The farmer-baboon relationship is complicated and filled with ambiguity. Farmers are happy to see baboons in the wild, but on the farm baboons are not welcome. High population numbers and the inability to control baboons are particular concerns for commercial farmers. Baboons were the dominant raiders, whose rates of raiding were influenced most by natural food availability. Vervet monkey raiding was also frequent and was influenced by the presence of baboons on the farm. In addition to primates, 18 other wildlife species were observed within crop fields. Farmers’ perceptions were influenced by duration of raiding, average group size and overlap between farmer activity and crop raiding. Farmers underestimated crop loss to wildlife, but were able to accurately estimate where most damage occurs. The use of bells as an alarm system was not effective at alerting field guards to the presence of vervet raiders. Motion-activated sounds were effective at reducing baboon raiding for a short time, but baboons soon habituated. Electric fencing was effective at keeping most wildlife out of crop fields. The information obtained throughout the thesis was used to provide recommendations to commercial crop farmers to reduce crop raiding by wildlife.
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Bastholm, Isabelle, and Victoria Fransson. "Impact and Perception of the Human-Wildlife Conflict; a Spatial Case Study of Management and Strategies in Skåne County." Thesis, Malmö universitet, Fakulteten för kultur och samhälle (KS), 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-21926.
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This study seeks to find the best strategies to be implemented to decrease the human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Other countries management practises and strategies to manage HWC was reviewed, in order to identify if Skåne county in Sweden could pursue improvements. To be able to tackle HWC, a greater understanding of people's ethical views were investigated and their perceptions of improvements were documented and researched. This study aims to provide quantitative data with web based surveys and spatial mapping of impacts from the HWC in Skåne county. It further aims to map the values that affects society caused by the HWC, and to answer the following questions; What are the optimal strategies in order to decrease HWC in Skåne? Where can cost effective improvements be implemented? This was both answered in the interviews conducted, and the gathered data. Optimal strategies that were detected where Skåne county can improve were; extensive implementations of ecoducts and passages for game, reducing the use of fencing, translocating, compensation actions, increase hunting opportunities and an installment of further game warning systems. Ethical views of different respondents’ towards the HWC were also analyzed. The online survey revealed that there were a difference in respondents views of HWC, based on if they were environmental science students, hunters or the general public. The gathered data and result, stated that the general public and the environmental students/workers were categorized in the ethical views of ecocentrism. The hunters ethical views could not be determined, due to the inconsistency of the answers of the questions. By showing differences and similarities in ethical views and how to manage HWC, strategies and incentives can more easily be adapted, to reach a better community base that can work together to reduce the HWC. Because of the different knowledge of the respondent groups and of their ethical views, there needs to be a broader incentive program that can maintain different interests of people and reduce conflicts, as well as preserve the biological state of ungulates in Skåne. In the online survey, all of the respondents agreed that the stakeholder, most suitable to handle and manage the problematics regarding HWC, is the government/county government. Other stakeholders that were believed suitable for managing HWC in Skåne, were organisations, for-profit companies and lastly, private self-acting individuals. Furthermore, the respondents beliefs on coexistence between humans and wildlife were also studied. The data showed that the general public and the hunters believed that future were to be positive, and the environmental students/workers believe the HWC would still be a problem in the future.
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Kesch, Kristina Verfasser], and Jörg U. [Akademischer Betreuer] [Ganzhorn. "Game fencing as a human-wildlife conflict mitigation strategy and its implications for conservation / Kristina Kesch. Betreuer: Joerg Ganzhorn." Hamburg : Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1065805411/34.
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McDonald, Lucian R. "Urban Alaskan Moose: An Analysis of Factors Associated with Moose-Vehicle Collisions." DigitalCommons@USU, 2019. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7547.
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As human populations continue to grow and encroach into wildlife habitats, instances of human-wildlife conflict are on the rise. Increasing numbers of reported wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) provide tangible evidence of anthropogenic impacts on wildlife as well as increasing threats to human health and safety. Increasing WVCs are of particular concern, especially those involving large-bodied ungulates such as moose (Alces spp.), because of the increased risk of property damage, personal injuries, and human fatalities. Motorists directly involved in a WVC are at risk of injury or mortality, but other motorists are also put at risk due to road obstructions and traffic congestion associated with WVCs. Mitigating these impacts on motorists and wildlife requires investigation into the temporal and spatial factors leading to WVCs.
In Alaska, most WVCs involve moose (Alces alces), a large bodied ungulate capable of threatening human life when involved in a collision. Each moose-vehicle collision (MVC) in Alaska is estimated to cost $33,000 in damages. With this analysis, I analyzed the plethora of factors contributing to moose and motorist occurrence on the road system and motorist detection based on a historical dataset of MVC reports throughout Alaska from 2000 to 2012 and a dataset of field-derived measurements at MVC locations within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough from 2016 to 2018. My first analysis focused on the daily and annual trends in MVC rates as compared to expected moose and human behavioral patterns with a focus on guiding mitigation strategies. Fifty percent of the MVCs reported between 2000 and 2012 occurred where the commuter rush hours overlapped with dusk and dawn in winter, and the artificial lighting differences between boroughs suggest a link between artificial lighting and reduced MVCs.
To focus more specifically on roadside features contributing to MVC risk, I collected and analyzed local and regional scale land cover and road geometry data at reported MVC sites in an area with a rapidly growing human population. I compared these data to similar data collected at random locations near documented MVC sites and at locations where moose that were fitted with global-positioning system (GPS) transmitters crossed highways. I used generalized additive mixed models to delineate which of the variables impacted the risk of both moose road crossings and MVCs. Moose road crossings were influenced by approximations of spatial, seasonal, and daily moose density as well as the proportion of deciduous-coniferous and coniferous forest in the area and the number of possible corridor or land cover types surrounding the site. The best MVC risk model was described by expected seasonal and daily changes in moose density and local scale measurements, including the sinuosity of the road, the height of vegetation near the road, and the angle between the road surface and the roadside. Together this information should guide transportation and urban planners in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to use roadside vegetation removal, seasonal speed reduction, improved lighting strategies, dynamic signage, or partnerships with mobile mapping services to reactively reduce MVCs and to focus future road planning in areas with lower moose abundance and build roads that increase visibility and detection distances in areas where moose are common.
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Mountjoy, Natalie. "The Effects of Human/Wildlife Conflict on the Potential for Community-Based Ecotourism in the Kasigau Region of Southeast Kenya." TopSCHOLAR®, 2007. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/409.
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Many believe community-based ecotourism (CBE) can assist in conservation efforts and community development; however, little research has been done to assess the potential of CBE in a specific region. As part of a large, long-term, international research project, I define three problematic areas that may impede successful CBE efforts in the Kasigau location of southeast Kenya: bushmeat utilization, community attitudes and wildlife abundance. Samples of meat purchased from butcheries and meat markets are identified to species using molecular analysis, community attitudes are ascertained via written social surveys and transect sampling methods are used to determine the relative abundance and diversity of wildlife on Maungu Ranch in Kasigau. Through these three separate analyses a clear picture of problematic issues facing CBE in Kasigau becomes clear. This study provides valuable baseline data that can be used in future research to determine the impacts of CBE in the region.
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Atkins, Alexander. "An experimental assessment of the efficacy of falconry to mitigate human-wildlife conflict: Egyptian Geese Alopochen aegyptiaca at golf courses." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15501.
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Includes bibliographical referencesHuman-wildlife conflicts are increasing globally and are believed to be one of the most prevalent and intractable issues that face conservation biologists today. One such conflict is found on golf courses, where high numbers of geese can come into conflict with residents and members. In South Africa, the indigenous Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca population has increased dramatically over recent years and as a result they are often seen as nuisance animals whose population requires active management. Most non-lethal methods of goose control have had little success due to habituation to their presence, whilst the use of lethal methods are often deemed socially unacceptable. In this study we experimentally investigated the efficacy of falconry as a management tool to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. We hypothesised that the use of falconry would re-establish a landscape of fear, whereby habitat choice is influenced by the perceived fear of predation, resulting in the local departure of geese to a safer habitat, thereby reducing the population of geese to a tolerable level. Absolute counts of geese and analysis of vigilance levels were conducted at three golf courses in the Western Cape which included two control sites and a treatment site. The results of the experiment indicate that goose abundance declined by 73% at the treatment site after falconry was initiated, and that this was well over the losses due to direct predation. Vigilance levels increased by 7 6% during the treatment period, with no such changes observed at either control site. Additionally, vigilance was higher when filmed from a golf buggy compared to when filmed on foot, which may suggest the geese also learned to associate the golf buggy with the threat of predation, enhancing the overall efficacy of the falconry. While there is a relatively small lethal aspect to falconry, the results of this study confirm that a reduction in the population of geese can be achieved by simulating the naturally occurring non-lethal effects of predation that have been lost in some habitats, as a result of anthropogenic changes to the landscape. To our knowledge, this is the first truly experimental test of the efficacy of falconry to reduce nuisance birds and these important ecological findings have relevance for techniques that people deploy for dealing with human wildlife conflict, particularly where lethal options are unfavourable.
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Murison, Megan Kate. "The roles of black-backed jackals and caracals in issues of human-wildlife conflict in the Eastern Cape, South Africa." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018667.
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[Partial abstract]: Human-wildlife conflict is a widely observed phenomenon and encompasses a range of negative interactions between humans and wildlife. Depredation upon livestock and game species proves to be the prevalent form of this conflict and often results in the killing of carnivores. Within the South African context, despite intense lethal control, two sympatric mesopredators, the blackbacked jackal (Canis mesomelas) and the caracal (Caracal caracal), remain common enough to be considered a major threat to human livelihoods through depredation. Wildlife ranches and livestock farms dominate the landscape in the Eastern Cape Province. Moreover, human-predator conflict within the region is extensive as both the black-backed jackal and caracal are seen to be inimical by landowners. Understanding this conflict is essential for mitigating any potential adverse environmental reactions (i.e. range collapses or extinctions) and requires knowledge of anthropogenic, ecological and environmental factors. I interviewed 73 land owners across five municipal boundaries in the Eastern Cape to quantify perceptions of predator control methods.
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Bergman, Trygg Elias. "An investigation of human-wildboar conflict : - the perceived need for economical compensation among farmers due to crop damage caused by wild boars -a case study in Arboga, Sweden." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen, 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-226839.
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Couper, Amy. "Understanding perceptions of human-wildlife conflict and policy responses: An examination of the Western Australia shark hazard mitigation drum line program 2013-2014." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2020. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/204256/1/Amy_Couper_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis examines stakeholder perceptions of shark bite events and policy responses by using a Western Australian shark hazard mitigation policy as a case study. It determined that stakeholder groups use different techniques to create social problems that can influence policy outcomes and that there is a disconnect between policy and scientific evidence regarding cases of human-wildlife conflict.
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Karimi, Rebekah R. Schulte Bruce A. "An assessment of perceived crop damage in a Tanzanian village impacted by human-elephant conflict and an investigation of deterrent properties of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) exudates using bioassays." Diss., Statesboro, Ga.: Georgia Southern University, 2009. http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/archive/fall2009/lyndsay_a_itoh/Itoh_Lyndsay_A_200908_MS.pdf.
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"A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science." Title from PDF of title page (Georgia Southern University, viewed on June 19, 2010). Bruce A. Schulte, major professor; Lissa M. Leege, J. Michelle Cawthorn, committee members. Electronic version approved: December 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p.76-78).
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Suutarinen, J. (Johanna). "Ecology of lawbreaking:effects of poaching on legally harvested wolf populations in human-dominated landscapes." Doctoral thesis, Oulun yliopisto, 2019. http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789526222271.
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Abstract Illegal killing of wolves (hereinafter ’wolf poaching’) in human-inhabited areas where wolves are also legally harvested is a special case of wildlife crime. This doctoral thesis examines wolf poaching in Finland and Sweden from the ecological perspective. In the first paper, we examined the causes of mortality among collared Finnish wolves and the role of estimated poaching rates on population changes. The second paper related the likelihood of being poached to covariates expressing different dimensions of the wolf conflict at two spatial scales (territory and country level) in Finland. Third paper turns the focus to Sweden, where we examined the disappearances of adult wolves in relation to population size, legal harvest and inbreeding. The first two studies were done in collaboration with the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and the third with the Scandinavian wolf research project SKANDULV. Poaching outnumbered other causes of death. Most poaching cases were unverified. Other causes of death were legal harvest, traffic and natural mortalities. Both populations had a relatively high number of wolves with unknown fates. Inbreeding was not related to the disappearances of adult wolves in Sweden. Remoteness to human inhabitation and the detectability of the wolves from the forest roads (road crossings by wolves) increased the likelihood of poaching in Finland. Adult wolves suffered high risk of poaching in both populations. Risk was highest in early spring in Finland. Larger population size increased and the number of legally harvested wolves decreased poaching in both countries. Poaching seemed to limit the study populations despite the management efforts that used legal hunting as a tool to increase tolerance towards wolvesTiivistelmä Suden ja ihmisen rinnakkainelo johtaa konflikteihin, joiden lievittämiseksi susikantoja rajoitetaan usein luvallisella metsästyksellä. Suteen kohdistuu lisäksi laitonta tappamista eli salametsästystä. Tämä väitöstutkimus selvittää salametsästyksen ekologisia vaikutuksia Suomen ja Ruotsin susipopulaatioihin. Ensimmäisessä osatyössä selvitimme suomalaisten pantasusien kuolinsyitä, arvioimme salametsästyksen voimakkuutta ja sen vaikutuksia populaatiotasolla. Toisessa osatyössä tarkastelimme susikonfliktiin liittyvien ennustetekijöiden vaikutusta laittomasti tapetuksi tulemisen riskiin reviiritasolla ja koko Suomen mittakaavassa. Kaksi ensimmäistä osatyötä tehtiin Luonnonvarakeskuksen (Luke) suurpetotutkimuksessa. Kolmas osatyö tehtiin osana skandinaavista susitutkimushanketta (SKANDULV). Siinä selvitimme populaatiokoon, luvallisen pyynnin ja sukusiittoisuuden vaikutuksia aikuisten susien katoamiseen Ruotsissa. Salametsästys oli susien yleisin kuolinsyy, mutta suurin osa tapauksista jää toteen näyttämättä. Muita kuolinsyitä olivat luvallinen metsästys, liikenne ja luonnolliset kuolinsyyt. Aineistoissa oli runsaasti kohtaloltaan tuntemattomaksi jääneitä yksilöitä. Yksilöiden sukusiittoisuusaste ei ollut yhteydessä susien katoamisiin Ruotsissa. Syrjäinen sijainti ja susien havaittavuus metsätiestöltä lisäsivät laittoman tapon todennäköisyyttä Suomessa. Salametsästysriski oli korkein kevättalvella. Aikuisilla susilla oli huomattavan korkea riski tulla laittomasti tapetuksi. Tutkimuksen perusteella salametsästyksen määrää selittävät erityisesti susipopulaation kulloinenkin koko ja luvalliset pyyntimäärät. Suurempi susikanta lisäsi salametsästystä ja metsästyslupien määrä vähensi sen riskiä. Salametsästys vaikuttaa säädelleen susikantoja siitä huolimatta, että susikonfliktia on pyritty lieventämään luvallisella metsästyksellä