Human-carnivore conflict in China: a review of current approaches with recommendations for improved management

Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a conservation concern that increasingly threatens the continued existence of some of the world's most endangered species. With an increase in human population, urban sprawl and subsequent encroachment on wild land, human and wildlife interaction has become inevitable. In the majority of cases, this interaction results in a negative outcome for humans, wildlife or both. In China, these key elements, along with a decrease in wild prey species, have resulted in the expansion of HWC encounters, and the need for alleviating this conflict has become a conservation priority. Loss of human life, livestock and/or crops is most often the catalysts that fuel HWC. Techniques to alleviate conflict around the world have included preventative measures and mitigation techniques, such as financial compensation and other incentive programs. Both types of measures have had variable success. We review the current status of human-carnivore conflict management in China, and, drawing lessons from around the globe, we make recommendations for improving conservation management in China. For example, an increase in law enforcement in nature reserves is vital to reducing human disturbance in prime carnivore habitat, thereby reducing conflict encounters. Also, modifications to current wildlife compensation programs, so that they are linked with preventative measures, will ensure that moral hazards are avoided. Furthermore, investigating the potential for a community self-financed insurance scheme to fund compensation and increasing efforts to restore wild prey populations will improve the outcome for wildlife conservation. Ultimately, HWC management in China will greatly benefit from an integrative approach.     

Managing Grasslands to Maximize Migratory Shorebird Use and Livestock Production

Grasslands are important to domestic and wild animals. Migratory shorebirds are important components of coastal rangeland ecosystems. Buff-breasted Sandpiper (BBSA, Calidris subruficollis) and American golden-plover (AMGP, Pluvialis dominica) are two insectivorous, migrant shorebirds that rely on livestock-grazed grasslands in the Southern Cone of South America during their nonbreeding season, as well as on migration in North America. We studied habitat selection of these species and contrasted their needs with livestock requirements needed to develop recommendations for grazing management that benefit wildlife and livestock production. Short grass height was positively related to BBSA and AMGP abundance, with ideal grass heights from 2 to 5 cm. However, maximum livestock production is associated with grass height over 6 cm. The amount of forest cover, which is used to provide shade to livestock, was negatively related to the occurrence of both shorebird species, likely due to higher risks of predation. Grassland improvement did not affect BBSA but negatively affected AMGP abundance. Short grass habitat was selected by both shorebird species in spite of the higher arthropod biomass in taller grasslands, suggesting that other factors besides food abundance, such as the ability to detect prey and predators, are driving habitat selection. To enhance shorebird (and other wildlife) conservation and livestock production, we recommend managers adjust grazing intensity so that grass height is > 6 cm from mid-February to September, when the Nearctic migrant shorebirds are absent, and from 2 to 5 cm from October to early February when shorebirds are present. These austral summer adjustments should be restricted to paddocks with low forest cover so that livestock production in paddocks with high forest cover remains maximized. All adjustments should be evaluated by each farmer to ensure adequate economic returns are met.     

Effects of Sagebrush Restoration and Conifer Encroachment on Small Mammal Diversity in Sagebrush Ecosystem

Conifer encroachment in sagebrush ecosystems reduces habitat heterogeneity, niche space, and resource availability, all of which negatively affect many wildlife populations. Sagebrush restoration is recommended as a management action to mitigate conifer encroachment and restore wildlife across millions of hectares in the Great Basin. Despite this recommendation, the effects of conifer encroachment and sagebrush restoration are unknown for most wildlife species. Small nonvolant mammal communities include keystone species, consumers and prey; facilitate energy flow and ecological function; and provide important ecological goods and services. We assessed causal relationships between conifer encroachment and sagebrush restoration (conifer removal and seeding native plants) on small mammal communities over 11 yr using a Before-After-Control–Impact design. Sagebrush habitat supported an additional small mammal species, twice the biomass, and nearly three times higher densities than conifer-encroached habitat. Sagebrush restoration increased shrub cover, decreased tree cover, and density but failed to increase native herbaceous plant density. Restoration caused a large increase in the non-native, invasive annual cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.). Counter to prediction, small mammal diversity did not increase in response to sagebrush restoration, but restoration maintained small mammal density in the face of ongoing conifer encroachment. Piñon mice (Peromyscus truei), woodland specialists with highest densities in conifer-encroached habitat, were negatively affected by sagebrush restoration. Increasing cheatgrass due to sagebrush restoration may not negatively impact small mammal diversity, provided cheatgrass density and cover do not progress to a monoculture and native vegetation is maintained. The consequences of conifer encroachment, a long-term, slow-acting impact, far outweigh the impacts of sagebrush restoration, a short-term, high-intensity impact, on small mammal diversity. Given the ecological importance of small mammals, maintenance of small mammal density is a desirable outcome for sagebrush restoration.     

Short- and Long-Term Influence of Brush Canopy Cover on Northern Bobwhite Demography in Southern Texas

Extensive research has been devoted to quantifying the habitat needs and selection of many wildlife species. However, how habitat selection affects the long-term demographic performance of a species largely has been ignored. We used northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and brush canopy coverage—an important habitat component for quail—to evaluate the influence of habitat on short- and long-term demographic performance of this species. We used data from a 5-yr (2001–2005) radiotelemetry study of northern bobwhite in southern Texas to obtain estimates of bobwhite density, survival, and production on three study areas with 5%, 11%, and 32% brush canopy cover. Our objectives were to compare these demographic variables individually among brush canopy cover classes and then simulate their cumulative effect on demographic performance using a simulation model. All demographic parameters were similar among the three brush canopy cover classes. However, simulation modeling indicated that long-term demographic performance was greater on the 11% and 32% brush canopy cover classes. Simulated bobwhite populations were 2–3 times higher in these two cover classes than the 5% brush canopy cover class. In addition, the probability of population persistence was greater in the 11% (0.91) and 32% (1.00) brush canopy cover classes than the 5% cover class (0.54) using a quasi-extinction criterion of ≤ 40 birds (≤ 0.05 birds · ha^-1). Our study highlights the shortcoming of considering only short-term effects when comparing habitat given that short- and long-term effects of habitat on demographic performance can differ.     

Voluntary Stewardship and the Canadian Species at Risk Act: Exploring Rancher Willingness to Support Species at Risk in the Canadian Prairies

North American temperate grasslands and the wildlife species they support are increasingly imperilled, largely due to habitat loss and degradation. Most remaining prairie is privately managed and supports livestock production. In Canada, voluntary stewardship is the preferred approach for protecting species at risk on private lands under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). However, attitudes of private land managers toward species at risk and their willingness to engage in stewardship are poorly understood. With data from interviews with 42 livestock producers in Saskatchewan, Canada, we describe producer characteristics, attitudes, and awareness of species at risk and evaluate how these factors influence willingness to protect species at risk. Younger producers with increased formal education, awareness, and positive attitudes were more willing to support conservation of species at risk. Voluntary stewardship under the SARA may be enhanced by rewarding producers for sound habitat management and improving trust between producers and government agencies.     

Applying Public Participation Geographic Information Systems to Wildlife Management

Wildlife management increasingly incorporates public participation to be more inclusive and reduce tensions between management and the general public in the decision-making process. There is also a need, however, to include spatial data since most wildlife biological and biophysical data are stored spatially in geographic information systems (GIS). This article presents a method for integrating this information using public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS). We asked stakeholders to identify specific places on a map that they would like to see maintained for the conservation of particular threatened species. This information is useful for identifying public wildlife management preferences and for allowing comparisons between public and expert opinions. We found high levels of public accuracy in identifying suitable habitat for threatened species conservation. We also identified places of potential conflict due to incompatible stakeholder preferences, but found little conflict between public conservation and development preferences.     

陆生野生动物栖息地分类体系研究

在分析研究国际野生动物栖息地分类体系,归纳总结我国野生动物栖息地分类方法基础上,结合我国实际情况及适应野生动物栖息地保护管理及科学研究需求,提出了陆生野生动物栖息地分类体系。该系统分为三级,包括一级12个栖息地类,二级66个栖息地型,三级218个基本类型。构建野生动物栖息地分类体系,能够更好地从多层次、空间立体格局上实施野生动物及栖息地保护、恢复和改善野生动物生存环境,维系野生动物种群健康发展。该体系建立与实施对国家生态安全维护,实现全国野生动物保护多层次化和多元化具有重要意义。     

The Sage-Grouse Habitat Mortgage: Effective Conifer Management in Space and Time

Management of conservation-reliant species can be complicated by the need to manage ecosystem processes that operate at extended temporal horizons. One such process is the role of fire in regulating abundance of expanding conifers that disrupt sage-grouse habitat in the northern Great Basin of the United States. Removing conifers by cutting has a beneficial effect on sage-grouse habitat. However, effects may last only a few decades because conifer seedlings are not controlled and the seed bank is fully stocked. Fire treatment may be preferred because conifer control lasts longer than for mechanical treatments. The amount of conservation needed to control conifers at large temporal and spatial scales can be quantified by multiplying land area by the time needed for conifer abundance to progress to critical thresholds (i.e., “conservation volume”). The contribution of different treatments in arresting conifer succession can be calculated by dividing conservation volume by the duration of treatment effect. We estimate that fire has approximately twice the treatment life of cutting at time horizons approaching 100 yr, but, has high up-front conservation costs due to temporary loss of sagebrush. Cutting has less up-front conservation costs because sagebrush is unaffected, but it is more expensive over longer management time horizons because of decreased durability. Managing conifers within sage-grouse habitat is difficult because of the necessity to maintain the majority of the landscape in sagebrush habitat and because the threshold for negative conifer effects occurs fairly early in the successional process. The time needed for recovery of sagebrush creates limits to fire use in managing sage-grouse habitat. Utilizing a combination of fire and cutting treatments is most financially and ecologically sustainable over long time horizons involved in managing conifer-prone sage-grouse habitat.     

The potential negative impacts of the classical swine fever virus on wild boar population in Gifu prefecture,Japan

There is a possibility that classical swine fever (CSF) virus outbreak has negative impacts on wild boar. To adequately manage native wild boar populations, wildlife managers need to gather the field data on wild boar and implement population management practices. We aimed to report the relative abundance index of wild boar before and after this outbreak. Our results showed that relative abundance index declined from 2017 (8.88 wild boars/100 trap days) to 2019 (2.03 wild boars/100 trap days), because of the negative impact of this virus and continuous culling programs. Although the eradication risk from the synergistic effect is low, wildlife managers need to consider the relationship between the trade-off between the risk of CSF and the conservation ecology risk of native species eradication.     

Factors Affecting Hunters’ Trust and Cooperation

North American wildlife is treated as a public trust resource (PTR), managed for the benefit of all people by government. Wildlife managers historically used restrictive regulations and enforced compliance to recover many species. Present-day societal needs include reducing some abundant game populations. Hunters often oppose this objective, creating tension between managing PTRs and gaining trust of hunters upon whose cooperation management depends. We assessed effects of normative and personal gains on cooperation of hunters through their purchase of antlerless deer licenses and their trust in the agency regarding bovine tuberculosis eradication from Michigan white-tailed deer. Logit modeling of hunter survey data indicated trust was influenced by procedural justice and personal gains. Only a single procedural justice variable was a statistically significant cooperation predictor. Findings suggest agencies may gain trust more readily than cooperation through procedurally just exercise of authority. Additional research is needed to identify meaningful gains associated with trust.     

云南省野生动物收容救护情况调查分析

收容救护野生动物的救护结果,可概括为“放归野外”“康复饲养”“调配”“救护失败死亡”4种。对云南省2014—2017年期间收容救护野生动物4种救护结果的动物种类、数量和数量占比调查,结果发现:(1)全省共87科超过274种22110只收容救护野生动物归属不同的救护结果。其中:救护成功的动物放归野外超过167种,14552只,占66%;康复饲养超过145种2610只,占12%;调配超过30种339只,占1%;救护失败死亡的动物超过211种,4609只,占21%。(2)放归的动物类群集中,部分动物放归错误或不合理,某类群动物康复饲养数量多,被救护动物死亡率高。(3)放归技术不完善,没有操作规范,调配的合理性未得到重视,落后的救护机构现状与动物救护需求巨大矛盾等因素是形成此现象主要原因。相关部门应建设完整的野生动物收容救护组织架构,增加野生动物收容救护编制,加大财政资金投入。建设在救护某一类群动物方面有突出能力的“专科医院”式收容救护机构。根据动物生活习性选择地点,建设适合不同类群动物的场地笼舍,提供设备设施。制定收容救护工作关键节点规范。加强救护技术交流、培训,提高技术能力。     

NGOs Enhance State Wildlife Agencies’ Capacity to Meet Public Trust Doctrine Obligations

State wildlife agencies (SWAs) manage natural resources for the benefit of the common good. However, effective management in today’s complex world requires institutional capacity that can address specific challenges. Nongovernmental organizations can enhance SWAs’ ability to manage wildlife as a public resource for which competing demands exist. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) led a participatory process to identify a suite of landscape species representative of habitats and human-caused threats in the Adirondack Park of northern New York. This effort benefitted the management of resources under the public trust doctrine. WCS brought additional capacity, specifically personnel, resources, programming, and credibility with partners, to conservation initiatives focused on boreal birds, moose, and black bears over a 15-year period in the Adirondack Park, NY. This investment resulted in several long-term projects that enhanced the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s ability to provide improved management and multiple benefits from these resources to the public.     

马来熊的研究现状及保护对策探析

马来熊是国家Ⅰ级保护动物,其生物学信息缺乏,也缺乏科学的保护和管理对策。本文通过回顾关于马来熊的研究文献,对其研究现状进行总结归纳,并针对种群分布现状提出科学保护和管理对策。关于马来熊的研究主要见于野生种群现状、野外生态及圈养种群的饲养管理等,其中野外生态主要集中于生境选择利用、家域特征、行为节律、食性等,需要进一步深入研究其个体生态学或种群生态学规律。针对马来熊的保护和研究现状,应采取加强立法、推行宣教、提高公众保护意识;加强基础科学研究;建立保护区、缓冲区及森林廊道等以恢复其栖息地等措施来有效保护其野生种群。     

野生动物旅游产品现状初探

野生动物旅游产品在总体的旅游产品中占有很大的市场份额,也有越来越多的旅游爱好者对此拥有购买动机与欲望。根据目前旅游市场现状,本文对野生动物旅游产品的种类进行了归类,提出了野生动物旅游产品可分为观赏型、参与型、工艺品型、食用型和药用型等5种表现形式。结合中国在野生动物旅游产品方面的开发现状,从生态保护、增强体验性与真实性、社区共管、科普教育、法制建设和科学投资方面提出了合理开发的建议。     

Consequences of Treating Wyoming Big Sagebrush to Enhance Wildlife Habitats

Sagebrush (Artemisia L.) taxa historically functioned as the keystone species on 1 090 000 km² of rangeland across the western United States, and Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle and Young) is or was dominant on a substantial amount of this landscape. Wyoming big sagebrush provides habitat for numerous wildlife species. Nevertheless, Wyoming big sagebrush communities are commonly manipulated to decrease shrub cover and density and increase the productivity and diversity of herbaceous plants. We examined relationships between management-directed changes in Wyoming big sagebrush and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), elk (Cervus elaphus), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), species commonly associated with these ecosystems. We focused on herbicide applications, mechanical treatments, and prescribed burning, because they are commonly applied to large areas in big sagebrush communities, often with the goal to improve wildlife habitats. Specifically, our objective was to identify treatments that either enhance or imperil sagebrush habitats for these wildlife species. The preponderance of literature indicates that habitat management programs that emphasize treating Wyoming big sagebrush are not supported with respect to positive responses by sage-grouse habitats or populations. There is less empirical information on ungulate habitat response to Wyoming big sagebrush treatments, but the value of sagebrush as cover and food to these species is clearly documented. A few studies suggest small-scale treatments (≤ 60-m width) in mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle) may create attractive foraging conditions for brooding sage-grouse, but these may have little relevance to Wyoming big sagebrush. Recommendations or management programs that emphasize treatments to reduce Wyoming big sagebrush could lead to declines of wildlife species. More research is needed to evaluate the response of sagebrush wildlife habitats and populations to treatments, and until that time, managers should refrain from applying them in Wyoming big sagebrush communities.     

Contributions of Citizen Scientists and Habitat Volunteers to Monarch Butterfly Conservation

Volunteers can contribute to wildlife conservation by protecting and restoring habitat, or by collecting citizen science data. Much remains unknown about how citizen scientists contribute to conservation beyond data collection, or the extent that volunteering with citizen science or habitat conservation is associated with increased participation in other forms of conservation. We surveyed citizen science and habitat volunteers from monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) programs. Both types of volunteers conducted conservation outreach and created and managed monarch habitat. Habitat volunteers were more likely to create new habitat for monarchs in urban or suburban areas, whereas citizen scientists were more likely to maintain existing habitat in rural areas. Most volunteers increased their participation in conservation after joining a formal monarch project. Our results provide information about the capacity for habitat volunteers to engage in conservation, as well as evidence of an unexplored benefit of citizen science, the creation and protection of habitat.     

Can science save the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)? Unifying science and policy in an adaptive management paradigm

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca David, 1869) is an iconic species for global conservation, yet field research has only recently advanced to the point where adaptive management is possible. Here, we review recent developments in giant panda conservation science and propose a strategic plan for moving panda conservation forward. Because of scientific, funding, political, and logistical hurdles, few endangered species management programs have embraced adaptive management, wherein management decisions are shaped iteratively by targeted scientific research. Specific threats, such as habitat destruction, anthropogenic disturbance and fragmented nonviable populations, need to be addressed simultaneously by researchers, managers and policy‐makers working in concert to understand and overcome these obstacles to species recovery. With the backing of the Chinese Government and the conservation community, the giant panda can become a high‐profile test species for this much touted, but rarely implemented, approach to conservation management.     

野生动物生境破碎化理论探讨

生境破碎化是指由于人类活动或自然因素引起生境变化的一个生态过程。生境破碎化是生态学和保护生物学中较新的理论,已成为保护生态学、景观生态学和保护生物学研究领域中备受关注的热点问题之一。本文介绍了生境破碎化的基本概念、主要特点,以及生境破碎化在种群、群落、生态系统和景观层次引起的生态效应,概括了生境破碎化在形式上和功能上的主要表现。同时综述了生境破碎化研究的起源、发展和在森林采伐、道路及边缘效应3个主要方面的研究进展,并着重探讨了生境破碎化：（1）对野牛动物生物多样性保护带来的生态效益;（2）对野生动物景观结构与格局的时空动态影响分析;（3）对野生动物产生的直接或潜在生态过程中的尺度性;（4）对野生动物遗传多样性产生的影响;（5）野生动物对生境破碎化的适应机制等研究发展方向和趋势。     

A zoological perspective on payments for ecosystem services

The concept of payments for ecosystem services is being developed as an important means of providing a more diverse flow of benefits to people living in and around habitats valuable for conservation. The Kyoto Protocol, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, includes a Clean Development Mechanism to provide for payments for certain forms of carbon sequestration that may benefit animal species (at least as an incidental benefit). Other market‐based approaches for paying for carbon sequestration services outside the Kyoto framework are being promoted in various parts of the world. Another common form of payment for ecosystem services is compensating upstream landowners for managing their land in ways that maintain downstream water quality; this can include habitat management that benefits wild animal species. While biodiversity itself is difficult to value, it can be linked to other markets, such as certification in the case of sustainably‐produced forest products. This paper expands on some of the markets for ecosystem services that also benefit wildlife, identifies relevant sources of information, and highlights some of the initiatives linking such markets to poverty alleviation. Making markets work for ecosystem services requires an appropriate policy framework, government support, operational institutional support, and innovation at scales from the site level to the national level. Zoologists have much to contribute to all of these steps.     

Using Range Condition Assessment to Optimize Wildlife Stocking in Tindress Wildlife Sanctuary,Nakuru District,Kenya

Over 70% of Kenya’s wildlife resources occur outside protected areas, in areas where land use practices do not necessarily conform to wildlife conservation standards. Ensuring that land use practices in these areas accommodate wildlife conservation is vital in effectively conserving wildlife in this country. Tindress Farm in Rift Valley offers a good example of a place where economic activities and wildlife conservation can work harmoniously. The farm has set up a 320-ha wildlife sanctuary in the hilly parts of the property to provide a haven for wildlife displaced by human settlements in the surrounding environs. The Tindress Farm management needed to know the diversity and optimum number of wildlife species that the sanctuary could accommodate. This study set out to 1) outline a set of models for objectively calculating wildlife stocking levels and 2) demonstrate the practical use of these models in estimating optimum stocking levels for a specific wildlife sanctuary. After comparing models using forage inventory methods models and utilization-based methods (UM), we opted to use UM models because of their focus on ecological energetics. This study established that the range condition in Tindress Wildlife Sanctuary varied from poor to good (29–69%) and recommended a total stocking density of 158.9 grazer units and 201.4 browser units shared out by the various herbivore species. These estimates remain a best-case scenario. The effects of rainfall, range condition, and condition of the animals should be monitored continuously to allow for adjustments through active adaptive management.