Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data
In Latvia, livestock depredation by wolves has increased during the last two decades. Most of the attacks occur in summer and autumn during wolf hunting season. Use of effective preventive measures in Latvia is low, and farmers primarily rely on wolf hunting as a depredation reduction measure. The t...
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2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ffbafc398bb944eb98184f235133d24e 2023-07-02T03:31:55+02:00 Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data Jurģis Šuba Agrita Žunna Guna Bagrade Gundega Done Aivars Ornicāns Digna Pilāte Alda Stepanova Jānis Ozoliņš 2023-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118509 https://doaj.org/article/ffbafc398bb944eb98184f235133d24e EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8509 https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050 doi:10.3390/su15118509 2071-1050 https://doaj.org/article/ffbafc398bb944eb98184f235133d24e Sustainability, Vol 15, Iss 8509, p 8509 (2023) wolf Canis lupus livestock depredation Latvia Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118509 2023-06-11T00:33:19Z In Latvia, livestock depredation by wolves has increased during the last two decades. Most of the attacks occur in summer and autumn during wolf hunting season. Use of effective preventive measures in Latvia is low, and farmers primarily rely on wolf hunting as a depredation reduction measure. The total numbers of wolf attacks and number of affected sheep per year in regional forest management units were analyzed in relation to the estimated wolf density, extent of culling, and proportion of juveniles, as well as the sheep density and estimated number of wild prey animals. The response variables (number of attacks and affected sheep per year) were modelled using a negative binomial regression, testing the effects of every covariate separately and building models from the significant covariates. The depredation level was related to sheep density and estimated wolf population size. No reducing effect was found for culling, and an even greater depredation rate was expected when the proportion of culled wolves increased. In addition, no significant effect was associated with the other covariates. However, greater numbers of affected sheep were expected at higher red deer density, suggesting increased opportunistic livestock depredation when red deer locally outcompete roe deer, the preferred wolf prey in Latvia. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Sustainability 15 11 8509 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
wolf Canis lupus livestock depredation Latvia Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
wolf Canis lupus livestock depredation Latvia Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Jurģis Šuba Agrita Žunna Guna Bagrade Gundega Done Aivars Ornicāns Digna Pilāte Alda Stepanova Jānis Ozoliņš Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data |
topic_facet |
wolf Canis lupus livestock depredation Latvia Environmental effects of industries and plants TD194-195 Renewable energy sources TJ807-830 Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
In Latvia, livestock depredation by wolves has increased during the last two decades. Most of the attacks occur in summer and autumn during wolf hunting season. Use of effective preventive measures in Latvia is low, and farmers primarily rely on wolf hunting as a depredation reduction measure. The total numbers of wolf attacks and number of affected sheep per year in regional forest management units were analyzed in relation to the estimated wolf density, extent of culling, and proportion of juveniles, as well as the sheep density and estimated number of wild prey animals. The response variables (number of attacks and affected sheep per year) were modelled using a negative binomial regression, testing the effects of every covariate separately and building models from the significant covariates. The depredation level was related to sheep density and estimated wolf population size. No reducing effect was found for culling, and an even greater depredation rate was expected when the proportion of culled wolves increased. In addition, no significant effect was associated with the other covariates. However, greater numbers of affected sheep were expected at higher red deer density, suggesting increased opportunistic livestock depredation when red deer locally outcompete roe deer, the preferred wolf prey in Latvia. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jurģis Šuba Agrita Žunna Guna Bagrade Gundega Done Aivars Ornicāns Digna Pilāte Alda Stepanova Jānis Ozoliņš |
author_facet |
Jurģis Šuba Agrita Žunna Guna Bagrade Gundega Done Aivars Ornicāns Digna Pilāte Alda Stepanova Jānis Ozoliņš |
author_sort |
Jurģis Šuba |
title |
Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data |
title_short |
Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data |
title_full |
Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data |
title_fullStr |
Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data |
title_full_unstemmed |
Does Wolf Management in Latvia Decrease Livestock Depredation? An Analysis of Available Data |
title_sort |
does wolf management in latvia decrease livestock depredation? an analysis of available data |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118509 https://doaj.org/article/ffbafc398bb944eb98184f235133d24e |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Sustainability, Vol 15, Iss 8509, p 8509 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/8509 https://doaj.org/toc/2071-1050 doi:10.3390/su15118509 2071-1050 https://doaj.org/article/ffbafc398bb944eb98184f235133d24e |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118509 |
container_title |
Sustainability |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
8509 |
_version_ |
1770271359547473920 |