Poaching Threatens the Establishment of a Lynx Population, Highlighting the Need for a Centralized Judiciary Approach ...
Illegal hunting represents a major threat to the conservation of predators, but its impact remains difficult to assess as there are strong incentives to conceal this criminal activity. Attributing declines of carnivores to poaching is therefore an important conservation challenge. We present a case...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | unknown |
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Frontiers Media
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.48350/168456 https://boris.unibe.ch/168456/ |
| Summary: | Illegal hunting represents a major threat to the conservation of predators, but its impact remains difficult to assess as there are strong incentives to conceal this criminal activity. Attributing declines of carnivores to poaching is therefore an important conservation challenge. We present a case study of the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in the Swiss Alps (Valais) where the current distribution range is smaller than in the recent past and population density is by ≥80% lower than in the adjacent Swiss Prealps. We tested four hypotheses to explain this lower density: (1) a too low density of camera-traps deployed for lynx surveys in Valais compared to the Prealps (methodological artifact); (2) less favorable environmental conditions around the camera-trap sites; (3) lower densities of the main prey; and (4) poaching. We estimated lynx and ungulate densities and environmental conditions at trail camera sites and could clearly reject the first three hypotheses because: (1) the survey protocol was similarly ... |
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