Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain.
Large carnivores inhabiting human-dominated landscapes often interact with people and their properties, leading to conflict scenarios that can mislead carnivore management and, ultimately, jeopardize conservation. In northwest Spain, brown bears Ursus arctos are strictly protected, whereas sympatric...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:41896ab36a954fe4a1f7ebec83653afb 2023-05-15T15:51:01+02:00 Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain. Alberto Fernández-Gil Javier Naves Andrés Ordiz Mario Quevedo Eloy Revilla Miguel Delibes 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151541 https://doaj.org/article/41896ab36a954fe4a1f7ebec83653afb EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4790950?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151541 https://doaj.org/article/41896ab36a954fe4a1f7ebec83653afb PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 3, p e0151541 (2016) Medicine R Science Q article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151541 2022-12-31T00:22:11Z Large carnivores inhabiting human-dominated landscapes often interact with people and their properties, leading to conflict scenarios that can mislead carnivore management and, ultimately, jeopardize conservation. In northwest Spain, brown bears Ursus arctos are strictly protected, whereas sympatric wolves Canis lupus are subject to lethal control. We explored ecological, economic and societal components of conflict scenarios involving large carnivores and damages to human properties. We analyzed the relation between complaints of depredations by bears and wolves on beehives and livestock, respectively, and bear and wolf abundance, livestock heads, number of culled wolves, amount of paid compensations, and media coverage. We also evaluated the efficiency of wolf culling to reduce depredations on livestock. Bear damages to beehives correlated positively to the number of female bears with cubs of the year. Complaints of wolf predation on livestock were unrelated to livestock numbers; instead, they correlated positively to the number of wild ungulates harvested during the previous season, the number of wolf packs, and to wolves culled during the previous season. Compensations for wolf complaints were fivefold higher than for bears, but media coverage of wolf damages was thirtyfold higher. Media coverage of wolf damages was unrelated to the actual costs of wolf damages, but the amount of news correlated positively to wolf culling. However, wolf culling was followed by an increase in compensated damages. Our results show that culling of the wolf population failed in its goal of reducing damages, and suggest that management decisions are at least partly mediated by press coverage. We suggest that our results provide insight to similar scenarios, where several species of large carnivores share the landscape with humans, and management may be reactive to perceived conflicts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Ursus arctos Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 11 3 e0151541 |
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Medicine R Science Q Alberto Fernández-Gil Javier Naves Andrés Ordiz Mario Quevedo Eloy Revilla Miguel Delibes Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Large carnivores inhabiting human-dominated landscapes often interact with people and their properties, leading to conflict scenarios that can mislead carnivore management and, ultimately, jeopardize conservation. In northwest Spain, brown bears Ursus arctos are strictly protected, whereas sympatric wolves Canis lupus are subject to lethal control. We explored ecological, economic and societal components of conflict scenarios involving large carnivores and damages to human properties. We analyzed the relation between complaints of depredations by bears and wolves on beehives and livestock, respectively, and bear and wolf abundance, livestock heads, number of culled wolves, amount of paid compensations, and media coverage. We also evaluated the efficiency of wolf culling to reduce depredations on livestock. Bear damages to beehives correlated positively to the number of female bears with cubs of the year. Complaints of wolf predation on livestock were unrelated to livestock numbers; instead, they correlated positively to the number of wild ungulates harvested during the previous season, the number of wolf packs, and to wolves culled during the previous season. Compensations for wolf complaints were fivefold higher than for bears, but media coverage of wolf damages was thirtyfold higher. Media coverage of wolf damages was unrelated to the actual costs of wolf damages, but the amount of news correlated positively to wolf culling. However, wolf culling was followed by an increase in compensated damages. Our results show that culling of the wolf population failed in its goal of reducing damages, and suggest that management decisions are at least partly mediated by press coverage. We suggest that our results provide insight to similar scenarios, where several species of large carnivores share the landscape with humans, and management may be reactive to perceived conflicts. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alberto Fernández-Gil Javier Naves Andrés Ordiz Mario Quevedo Eloy Revilla Miguel Delibes |
author_facet |
Alberto Fernández-Gil Javier Naves Andrés Ordiz Mario Quevedo Eloy Revilla Miguel Delibes |
author_sort |
Alberto Fernández-Gil |
title |
Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain. |
title_short |
Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain. |
title_full |
Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain. |
title_fullStr |
Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conflict Misleads Large Carnivore Management and Conservation: Brown Bears and Wolves in Spain. |
title_sort |
conflict misleads large carnivore management and conservation: brown bears and wolves in spain. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151541 https://doaj.org/article/41896ab36a954fe4a1f7ebec83653afb |
genre |
Canis lupus Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Ursus arctos |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 3, p e0151541 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4790950?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151541 https://doaj.org/article/41896ab36a954fe4a1f7ebec83653afb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151541 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
e0151541 |
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