Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region
Lethal measures are widely adopted by local communities and governments to manage human-wildlife conflicts. Such measures lead to large scale decline of carnivore populations globally with trophic cascades on ecosystems and questionable impacts on human-wildlife conflicts. Mitigating human-carnivore...
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PeerJ Inc.
2020-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/9544.pdf |
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| author | Dipanjan Naha Pooja Chaudhary Gaurav Sonker Sambandam Sathyakumar |
| author_facet | Dipanjan Naha Pooja Chaudhary Gaurav Sonker Sambandam Sathyakumar |
| author_sort | Dipanjan Naha |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lethal measures are widely adopted by local communities and governments to manage human-wildlife conflicts. Such measures lead to large scale decline of carnivore populations globally with trophic cascades on ecosystems and questionable impacts on human-wildlife conflicts. Mitigating human-carnivore conflicts through non-lethal measures will protect endangered predators and secure livelihoods. However, information on the effectiveness of such measures are extremely limited and hence cannot be applied in developing scientific evidence. Further to develop human-carnivore coexistence models, it is important for local community members, biologists and wildlife managers to actively participate in conservation programs. We evaluated the response of a non-lethal visual deterrent (i.e. fox lights) to deter leopard attacks on livestock within a multiple-use landscape of western Himalaya through community engagement. We monitored 16 experimental sites and 17 control sites within 27 villages and recorded data on livestock depredation by leopards between April 2018 to April 2019. A multivariate analysis was conducted to determine the influence of landscape predictors and animal husbandry practices on livestock depredation by leopards within the vicinity of human settlements. We found that visual deterrents discouraged common leopards to predate on livestock (cows and goats). We also demonstrated that community based conservation initiatives are successful in mitigating human-carnivore conflicts within large semi-natural landscapes. We suggest developing site specific coexistence strategies and adopting non-lethal measures to safeguard carnivores, livestock and humans within shared landscapes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:06:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9a3d306e23f74d11abc6156e542a9ed7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:06:42Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-9a3d306e23f74d11abc6156e542a9ed72023-12-02T23:48:44ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-07-018e954410.7717/peerj.9544Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan regionDipanjan Naha0Pooja Chaudhary1Gaurav Sonker2Sambandam Sathyakumar3Department of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, IndiaDepartment of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, IndiaDepartment of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, IndiaDepartment of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, IndiaLethal measures are widely adopted by local communities and governments to manage human-wildlife conflicts. Such measures lead to large scale decline of carnivore populations globally with trophic cascades on ecosystems and questionable impacts on human-wildlife conflicts. Mitigating human-carnivore conflicts through non-lethal measures will protect endangered predators and secure livelihoods. However, information on the effectiveness of such measures are extremely limited and hence cannot be applied in developing scientific evidence. Further to develop human-carnivore coexistence models, it is important for local community members, biologists and wildlife managers to actively participate in conservation programs. We evaluated the response of a non-lethal visual deterrent (i.e. fox lights) to deter leopard attacks on livestock within a multiple-use landscape of western Himalaya through community engagement. We monitored 16 experimental sites and 17 control sites within 27 villages and recorded data on livestock depredation by leopards between April 2018 to April 2019. A multivariate analysis was conducted to determine the influence of landscape predictors and animal husbandry practices on livestock depredation by leopards within the vicinity of human settlements. We found that visual deterrents discouraged common leopards to predate on livestock (cows and goats). We also demonstrated that community based conservation initiatives are successful in mitigating human-carnivore conflicts within large semi-natural landscapes. We suggest developing site specific coexistence strategies and adopting non-lethal measures to safeguard carnivores, livestock and humans within shared landscapes.https://peerj.com/articles/9544.pdfCarnivoreConflictCommunityLivestockLivelihoodMitigation |
| spellingShingle | Dipanjan Naha Pooja Chaudhary Gaurav Sonker Sambandam Sathyakumar Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region PeerJ Carnivore Conflict Community Livestock Livelihood Mitigation |
| title | Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region |
| title_full | Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region |
| title_short | Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region |
| title_sort | effectiveness of non lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple use landscape of the himalayan region |
| topic | Carnivore Conflict Community Livestock Livelihood Mitigation |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/9544.pdf |
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